Expecting
by inzaghina
Summary: The story starts after 9x10 and will follow Meredith, Derek and Zola through pregnancy, the expansion of their family and the happy changes in their lives. The main focus will be them, but the others will be featured too, especially the rest of the new attendings. Calzona, Owentina and Ben&Bailey will be part of the story, I'm also developing Jolex and Japril later on.
1. Make a wish

**Set after 9x10. It will be a group story, but the main focus will be Meredith and Derek and their road through pregnancy and expanding their family. It's about time that these two get a real happy ending, no more tragedies for them and for the rest of the hospital as well. All the main couples will appear, there might be some returns as well! Hope you'll enjoy this.**

The days following the wedding that wasn't and then was again turned out to be pretty chaotic for all the Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital doctors. Richard had organized a beautiful ceremony to bid farewell to his beloved wife Adele and she was now resting next to her niece Camille in the cemetery. Cristina and Owen had signed the divorce papers, but this had brought them closer than they had ever been, even if it seemed impossible to their friends. They were now inseparable and were both, separately, thinking about going back to live together. Jackson felt like an idiot after the one night stand he had with Stephanie, in a car out of all possible places. He shouldn't have pulled a _Karev_ on her and now he didn't know how to act around her and all the other interns. She was a bit embarrassed as well, mostly because she didn't know how to tell him, that, even though he was one of the hottest guys she had ever met, she just wanted to learn from him and that the night in the car had to be forgotten. Alex and Jo had formed somewhat of a bond after the drunken night together they spent sharing stories from their crappy childhoods. He hadn't tried to take advantage of her and they could consider themselves sort of friends after the time spent together. April had been working some more with Shane, he showed real potential and she was happy to teach him as long as he didn't mention the whole wedding reception fiasco for the rest of his life. Arizona and Callie were getting closer everyday, one step at a time, and were both hopeful about their future together as a family. Ben and Miranda had left for a ten days honeymoon in Bahamas after they had attended Adele's funeral, leaving Tuck with her family, they were set to come back just in time for Christmas Eve. Meredith spent most of her time at the hospital, she stayed during the nights as well dividing her time between Derek and Lizzie, leaving Zola in the capable hands of Callie and Arizona.

"I've been meaning to ask you about my release…" said Lizzie one morning, five days after her surgery.

Meredith looked at her and shrugged "You know I'm not the surgeon assigned to your case…"

"I know that, but we've established that you're my sister, right?" Meredith just nodded and the other woman kept talking "Then you should find out, because I have a husband and four kids who would like for me to be home for Christmas!"

Meredith's mouth fell open, it was going to be Christmas in eight days, how could she had forgotten that? "Well, I could find out for you… but I'm not so sure you'll be able to organize a Christmas feast…"

"Who said anything about me organizing?"

"I just assumed…" Meredith was once again cut off by Lizzie "My mother will be cooking, this year. My family will be spoiled from her since both Nancy and Kate will be at their in laws for the holidays and Derek and Amy are here on the west coast…"

"Seriously?" the brunette just nodded staring at her sister in law.

"I plan to take full advantage of that" she added after a short pause.

"Well… since you probably will have trouble standing and your sisters won't be there to assist you and you already told me how much of a bad sister in law I have been and… well, your kids are very much looking forward to meet their cousin… maybe, yeah well… you could tell your family to come over here for Christmas… if you don't have any other plans of course… I'm not a very good cook, but I guess your mom could cook here if she wanted to come as well and…" she rambled on until Lizzie interrupted her "Would you really invite us all here for Christmas?"

"Well… you're Derek's family and that makes you my family as well and… I'm not very good at the family stuff, but I want my little girl to have a happy childhood filled with family, laughter, good memories and amazing Christmases!"

Lizzie was beaming at her "Do you think they would like to come over? Maybe I could call Amy as well, she liked me when she met me, and…"

"I think it would be great!"

"Ok… why don't you call your husband and your mother? I'll go tell Derek… there's no need for a hotel, cause your brother built a freaking mansion in the woods and we could finally be able to use some guest rooms!" she added getting up from the mattress and smiling at her nervously.

"Are you sure? My kids can be a little intense…"

"I'm positive… you're family, end of discussion!"

"Okaaa-y, if you're sure…" said Liz taking out her phone while Meredith left her room still smiling at her.

Seconds after she had closed the door behind her Meredith started to panic… had she really invited her sister in law's family at their house for Christmas? Along with her mother in law and maybe another sister… why in the world did Derek had to have all these sisters?! As she was asking herself those questions she arrived in Derek's room.

"Good morning!" she exclaimed upon entering.

"Hey, you've been gone for quite a while"

"I went to see your sister, since you were sleeping and I also spoke with Callie asking her to bring over some breakfast for us, along with Zola… don't worry I told her you want muesli and fresh fruit!"

"Good idea!" he smiled at her as she hopped on the bed next to him giving him a quick kiss on the lips "How's the pain?"

"Not too bad…" he murmured kissing her once again.

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"I'd say a six… maybe five and a half" he gave her his infamous _McDreamy_ smile and she smiled back.

"Uhm, I've been meaning to talk to you… I may have invited your sister and her family here for Christmas, along with your mom… I hope that's okay with you!"

He laughed out loud "You what?" he was surprised.

"Yeah we were talking and one thing led to another and… you know how I ramble a lot, right?" she stopped and he just nodded "So I told her they should have Christmas here, I mean we do want Zola to have happy childhood memories, like you had, right?" he nodded again and reached out with his good arm to give her a hug.

"You know my family can be a bit intense for me as well, right?" she snuggled closer and sighed "Family is good… I wish Lexie was here to see this happening… me hosting Christmas with one, maybe two, of your sisters and possibly your mom…" she trailed off and he hugged her even more.

"She would have been very amused" he murmured after a while "but she would have been really proud of you!"

"I miss her" she whispered after a little while.

"I know, me too… I miss her and Mark everyday…"

"They would have been so excited about becoming an aunt and an uncle again, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah, definitely…" he kissed her one more time on the lips and gave her a peck on the nose as well "How about you tell me a wish you have, but it has to concern the baby… so only happy thoughts, all right?"

She nodded, feeling a tear escaping past her eyelashes "Okay… uhm, this is hard… I just want the pregnancy to go full term and for us to have a healthy baby" she said after a little while.

"That doesn't count!" he retorted "It has to be something like… I wish the baby will be a great baseball player… or a dancer… or I hope the baby will have blond hair…"

"Okay… no need to get so worked up about this!" she stuck her tongue out at her husband "Let me think some more… why don't you go first?"

"Okay… I really wish the baby will have your eyes, you have very pretty eyes…" he said to her right away.

"You're such a flatterer!" she exclaimed giggling.

"It's part of my charm!" he conceded "I do want the baby to have my hair though, I have been told my hair is amazing!" he went on.

She punched him lightly on the right forearm "You're so full of yourself!"

"Still part of my charm… comes along with being a hot neurosurgeon!"

"I can't believe you!" she laughed "Do I have to remind you how long it takes for you to style your _amazing_ hair in the morning?!"

"Nope, I know that full well!" he retorted grinning "Your turn now!"

"Okay… I really want the baby to have your smile, it could charm anybody to do just about anything…" she finally said.

"Good wish!" he smiled.

"I have another one though… I want the baby to have my nose!" she added sticking her tongue out once again.

"Ouch! You shouldn't make fun of a hurting man!"

"You are such a baby!" she giggled as he hugged her once more and kissed her passionately.

"Are we interrupting something?" asked Callie's voice entering the room with Zola, Sofia and Arizona.

"Of course not!" exclaimed Meredith hopping off of the bed and gathering Zola in her arms right away. She gave her little girl a big kiss on her cheek and a hug, then she deposited her on the bed next to her dad.

"Hi princess!" he kissed her on the nose and the little girl giggled, he could swear she had the same giggle Meredith had.

"Thanks for bringing her over guys and thank you so much for breakfast!" said Meredith kissing Sofia on the cheek and taking the to-go containers from Callie's hands.

"It was no problem, really" said Arizona smiling, while holding onto Sofia's hand.

"How are you doing Derek?" asked Callie.

"Pretty good… I will feel even better if you'll discharge me before Christmas!" he grinned while tickling Zola.

"Don't worry about that… Christmas is still eight days away, you have plenty of time to go home and enjoy it!"

"I don't know about the _enjoying it_ part, since my wife here has invited half of my family over to our house for the celebration!"

Meredith glared at him while Arizona asked "What did Meredith do?"

"I invited Lizzie and her family, along with his mom and, maybe, Amelia to spend the holidays here with us at our house…"

"At our house?!" asked Derek disbelieving, but still grinning widely.

"Of course, why should they book a hotel if we have a freaking mansion in the woods with a billion guest rooms?! And besides we will eat at our house, so it's just more practical if they stay there…"

"Sounds like an awesome plan!" said Callie, while Arizona nodded.

"Yeah is does" agreed Derek taking Meredith's hand in his.

"We'll see you guys later… we have to take Sofia to daycare now" said Callie opening the door.

"Okay, thanks again… can you tell them that Zola will be in a little later than usual today? I want her to spend some time with her daddy" asked Meredith in awe at the amount of fun her husband and daughter were already having.

"Will do!" said Arizona smiling.

"Bye" added little Sofia waving, just as Zola waved back at her.

The door closed and Meredith started to set breakfast on the table. Sure she was no chef, but she had learned some basics in the recent years and she was a mother now… hosting Christmas was not going to be a problem… at least not with Derek by her side.

"I love you, you know that?!" he whispered in her ear a little while after, munching on his blueberries, bananas, yogurt and muesli.

"Yeah… I love you too" she whispered back eating a raspberry muffin, looking at their daughter enjoying hot chocolate with a banana-nut muffin.

"It will be all right" he promised her smiling, she nodded taking a sip from her vanilla tea and smiled back at his handsome face.

"I know it will…" she answered a little while later, kissing the top of Zola's head.

**So, what did you think? I've been meaning to write a MerDer story for quite some time now, the new events sparkled my inspiration… I know I said it was going to be a group story and it will be, this was just the first chapter… there will be the rest of them in the following ones! Please press the pretty blue button and drop me a line, I appreciate every comment, even criticism! Just remember English is not my first language… I hope I didn't mess up too much, though!**


	2. All grown up

**AN: First of all I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed, added the story to their favorites and liked it. I'm very happy that you liked the first chapter, so here is the second one! Hope you'll enjoy this too. By the way, I had no idea Bailey was going to Bahamas for her honeymoon, but YAY I guessed it right!**

After a long and fun breakfast Meredith took Zola to daycare, promising the little girl that she would have gone to pick her up for lunch with daddy later. Zola nodded, she then spotted Sofia and went playing with her. Meredith walked towards the attendings lounge, she quickly changed and went in search of her intern for the day, it was Brooks once again. She was happy about that. She worked well with Brooks, the girl was quick, didn't complain and was a fast learner. After she found her and she put her in charge of her post-op notes, she had to bolt in the restroom to say goodbye to her lovely breakfast. Apparently the baby was not too pleased with her muffin choice. She was sitting next to the toilet, hugging her knees, when somebody else entered the room.

"Mere?! Are you okay?" Cristina's voice snapped her out of her reverie, she quickly got up and flushed the toilet, then left the cubicle, finding herself face to face with her _person_.

"What are you doing here?" she asked turning the water on.

"I saw you running in the bathroom and thought you were not feeling well or something…" Cristina looked concerned.

"I'm fine…" answered Meredith concentrating on washing her hands.

"You don't look fine to me…"

"But I am…" she insisted splashing some water on her face.

"You look a little pale…"

"I think I ate something that was off" she finally answered drying her hands.

"Were you cooking unsupervised again?" wondered Cristina.

"Nope, I haven't been home in like three days…"

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, though I'll probably have to go back tonight. I don't have anything more to wear here at the hospital and Zola needs some stuff too"

"I can come with you if you'd like" proposed Cristina still looking concerned "I'll be off at six"

"I'd like that" she agreed smiling slightly.

"Okay then, it's a date! Are you sure you're feeling all right though? You look tired…"

"That's cause I am tired… I've been sleeping in the hospital every night… call me sappy, but I really cannot sleep at the house, in that huge bed, knowing Derek is here in the hospital…"

"That makes sense, you've become an emotional mess ever since Derek has been here, but it was bound to happen!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well with becoming a mother and all, you were bound to become softer somehow… it's okay though, you're still my person!" Cristina reassured her and Meredith managed to crack a smile.

"Wanna know what I did, since I've become an emotional mess and all?!"

"Of course I do!"

"I've invited one, maybe two, of Derek's sister and his mom for the holidays…"

"You did not!"

"I definitely did and I told Derek, so… there's no turning back now. Lizzie is calling her family and her mom"

"Wow! I'm proud of you!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah!" Cristina nodded and then went on "You would have never done this, say… two years ago, but you're all grown up now and you'll have a McChristmas with half of the McFamily!" she grinned at her.

"I missed the McNames!" Meredith grinned back as the two left the restrooms and Meredith updated her on the whole Shepherd Christmas deal.

Before lunch came Meredith had to operate on a six years old boy who had come to the ER with a pretty severe case of peritonitis, Brooks scrubbed in with her and she had let her close up in the end, since the operation had gone really well. When she was done talking with the boys' worried parents she left them with Brooks who took them up to see their child. Meredith went to pick up Zola, she took her to Derek's room and she left the two of them there to go get some take out from a Mexican restaurant near the hospital, since Zola adored their chicken quesadillas and both her and Derek were fans of their fajitas, she was really in the mood for some good Mexican food, was she already experiencing cravings?

The family's lunch was interrupted by a 911 page to Meredith's pager signaling a pile up on the freeway. Nine vehicles were involved in the accident and the ER became pretty chaotic that afternoon. Meredith had to operate along with Callie on a mother of two who had been in the car with her kids. She had to remove her spleen which was shattered by one of her broken ribs, while Callie worked to repair her broken collarbone. Thankfully her surgery went well and both of the woman's kids had only suffered minor traumas. After she was done with the procedure, she went in search for the woman's husband to tell him the good news about his family.

"Mr. Winslow?" she asked entering the waiting room, Brooks tagging along behind her.

A disheveled blond haired man in his mid-thirties, got up from the chair and practically ran towards her "I'm Aaron Winslow…" he chocked.

"Mr. Winslow, I'm Dr. Meredith Grey and I operated on your wife Jennifer"

"How is she? And the kids?"

"Your wife is fine and so are your kids" she reassured him "your daughter had only a couple of scratches thanks to the car seat and your son broke his left humerus, we already put it in a cast, I think you will be able to take them home after a night in observation. Your wife broke three of her ribs and she fractured her sternum because of the collision and this caused a rupture of her spleen which I had to remove. Dr. Torres, the orthopedic surgeon, had to fix her collarbone, since it was broken because of the impact as well, she will come to update you as soon as she finishes another surgery. In the meantime we can take you to her room, we already took the kids in there with her, she should wake up soon!"

He smiled, tears streaming down his face, he crashed into her hugging her "Thank you so much Dr. Grey, my family is everything to me…" he managed to say, when he had released her.

"I know the feeling Mr. Winslow…" she smiled at him, leading him to the elevator.

Once they arrived in the room, he hugged both of his kids right away and then he placed a kiss on his wife's cheek; just as Meredith's had predicted the woman was waking up from the anesthesia. After checking her vitals both doctors left the room.

"Are you on call tonight Brooks?"

The young doctor nodded and Meredith went on "Be sure to come in and check on Mrs. Winslow every hour, there shouldn't be any complications, but I'd like to be sure of that and I think it would be nice if the whole family could be home for Christmas"

"Okay Dr. Grey"

"If anything happens, page me. I'll go home to pick up some stuff and I'll be back in the hospital for the night."

"All right. I hope I won't have to page you though" she answered.

"I do too! See you later Brooks" she said going towards Derek's room to update him on the day and ask him if he needed something from home.

An hour later Meredith and Cristina were at the house.

"So… got any news on McFamily?"

"Actually I do… Lizzie's husband and kids are thrilled to come here for the holidays. They'll get here on the 23rd…"

"What about Mama Shepherd?"

"She's going to get here the day after tomorrow, since both Lizzie and Derek will be released from the hospital"

"Wow! You only have a day and a half to get ready and you're not overreacting?! You really have grown Meredith Grey!" complimented Cristina eating some chips.

"I know!" grinned Meredith finishing packing a bag with hers and Derek's stuff and one for Zola's things.

"Do you need anything else?" asked Cristina who had packed some snacks for Zola to have at daycare, along with some healthy food for Derek.

"Nope, I have everything I need… do you mind waiting for me while I shower though?!"

"Of course not! I'll just steal more of your food!" she answered plopping herself on the sofa and turning the TV on.

An hour later they had gone to Callie and Arizona to give them Zola's bag and say goodnight to the little girl. Then they went to the hospital to give Derek the items he had requested along with some coffee ice cream, they had picked up at his favorite place. They both went to check in on the patients they had operated on during the day and then they went at Joe's to have a quick dinner.

"Hey Mere… over here!" called Alex, when they entered the bar, he was sitting at a table, waiting for them.

"Hi Alex!" said Meredith sitting down next to him.

"I'm starving… what are you having?" asked Cristina without sitting down.

"A cheeseburger with bacon and fries and a large coke" answered Meredith right away "I'll have the same!" added Alex. Cristina went to order and she came back holding a tray with their drinks.

"Let's make a toast" she proposed after she had sat.

"To what?" asked Alex.

"To the fact that all of our patients survived the accident today…" proposed Meredith.

"Yeah, that and… Christmas with McFamily!" added Cristina smirking.

"What?"

"Oh, that's right you don't know Alex… you're both invited to Christmas at my house, along with half of Derek's family!" said Meredith giggling.

Alex shrugged his shoulders "Fine by me… it's free food!" he exclaimed and the three friends clinked their glasses together.

**Ok, so… no Derek's family yet. They'll start to arrive in the next chapter, I swear! Also, the others will appear in the future chapters. Hope you liked it, please press the pretty blue button and tell me what your thoughts are.**


	3. You are family

**AN: I wanted to update during the weekend, but I got the flu and I've been in bed or on the sofa for most of the time since last Friday, how fun! Anyway, thank you again all for the reviews, likes and follows. I'm very happy to see you're liking the story and I hope you will like this next installment as well. **

Meredith woke up pretty late on the day that Mama Shepherd was set to arrive. She had worked until 2 a.m. the day before and she had slept at the hospital once again, thankfully her shift was going to start at 1:30 in the afternoon. Opening her eyes slowly on the sofa where she had slept for the entire period Derek had stayed in the hospital she checked out the clock and saw it was already past 9 o' clock. Yawning she stirred and looked over to Derek's bed, but she found it empty. She sat up as she heard some giggles coming from the private bathroom the room had; moments later Derek and Zola emerged from there smiling broadly.

"Mama up!" exclaimed the little girl running towards Meredith, who gathered Zola in her arms hugging her close.

"Good morning baby! Did you have fun with Sofia yesterday?!"

"Yup" answered the girl popping the p, snuggling closer to her mom.

"Good morning sleepy head!" smiled Derek sitting next to them giving Meredith a peck on the lips "Did you sleep good? You got in really late last night…"

"Morning… I slept very well, considering that I'm sleeping on a couch. Probably cause I got in around 2 o' clock and I was exhausted. I had to operate for five hours yesterday night…" she yawned again staring into Derek's eyes.

"Well, I'm happy you managed to sleep in a little this morning, then!" he smiled, hugging her and Zola close.

"What were you guys doing in the bathroom?"

"Well… Callie was really nice and she brought homemade pancakes for us to eat, but Miss Zola here was a little too enthusiastic with the syrup and we had to go wash our hands and faces, right Zozo?!"

The little girl nodded, smiling at her parents "de 'pcakes wer yummy!"

"They were?!" asked Meredith smiling back, just as her stomach grumbled.

"Yup!" exclaimed Zola.

"Don't worry we saved two blueberry ones and a chocolate chip one for you" added Derek grinning.

"That was so nice of you! Mama is in fact very hungry…"

"It mama!" giggled Zola pointing to the table where breakfast was waiting for her. While Meredith ate the pancakes and drank her morning tea, Derek and Zola went to visit Lizzie, Meredith promised to join them in Lizzie's room as soon as she had showered, since they still had to organize many things for the upcoming celebration of Christmas. When she arrived in Lizzie's room she found her husband sitting on a chair and her baby girl sitting on the bed with her _anty Lizy _as she had started to call Derek's younger sister.

"Hey guys!" she exclaimed upon entering "Breakfast was very good, thanks for saving me the pancakes!"

"Welcom mama!" answered Zola grinning at her.

"Hi Lizzie, how are you? Ready to get out of the hospital?!"

"Hi Mere… I'm all right thanks, I cannot wait to get out of here and see the mansion you guys keep gushing about!"

"Mansion is a little exaggerate sis…" tried Derek as Meredith sat down next to him.

"There are a gazillion of rooms Derek… I think you sister is right in calling it a mansion!" chastised him Meredith right away smiling.

"Whatever you say dear…" he conceded kissing her on the temple.

"So Mere, my mom called a little while ago… her plane was delayed. She was supposed to leave at 7:40 this morning, but because of a snowstorm, they left more than three hours later…"

"This is bad news guys! I start my shift at 1:30, I won't be able to go pick her up…"

"We know that, in fact I told my mom to take a taxi and come here once she lands" answered Lizzie.

"She'll think I'm a horrible daughter in law!"

"No she won't… she knows you have to work, she won't mind at all!" reassured Derek.

"Plus we already told her how you had to change some of your shifts in order to take off so many days around Christmas and New Year's… she has five kids who are all doctors, she knows how this works!" added Lizzie smiling.

"All right… we're still on for Alex to give you a ride home once your mom gets here, right? His shift finishes around 2 o' clock…"

"Yeah he confirmed that before he went to do rounds" said Derek.

"Unca Ales?!" asked Zola looking up from her teddy bear.

"That's right baby girl… uncle Alex will give us and nana a ride home, once nana gets here from New York" answered Derek and then added "Can you say nana?!"

Zola looked right at her daddy and then slowly said "Nana…"

"That's great baby!" beamed Meredith, just as Derek and Lizzie smiled at the little girl.

"You get to meet your nana today…" explained Meredith.

"'day?" asked Zola confused.

"That's right baby… you spoke on the phone and you saw her on the computer, remember?" continued Derek.

Zola nodded "I 'member…" she whispered.

"Well… guess what? You nana got on a plane today to come and stay with us for Christmas!" exclaimed Meredith.

Zola's mouth fell open, then she smiled brightly "nana 'day?!" she double checked.

"That's right princess, nana will arrive today!" told her Derek.

"Yay!" was her simple answer, all three adults laughed out loud at her enthusiasm.

Derek felt his heart swell with pride, his mother was finally going to meet his adorable daughter and he couldn't wait.

The rest of the morning was spent planning the days before the arrival of Lizzie's family who would have gotten there in four days. Around noon they ordered some takeout from an Italian restaurant nearby who made an amazing pizza and the four of them had lunch together, then Meredith started her shift.

* * *

Carolyn Shepherd had only visited Seattle once, very briefly, almost four years prior. The city had made a good impression on her, yes it rained a lot, but the area was very green, the people were welcoming and there were some pretty great sights to visit; it was a welcoming change compared to the east coast. But most of all Carolyn Shepherd was looking forward to meet her 15th grandchild in person, finally. Sure she had called her son and his family on a regular basis and she had spoken with Zola, she had seen pictures of her and she had spoken with her on Skype, but it just wasn't the same thing. She was looking forward to spend time with the little girl, get to know her and spoil her rotten, after all she didn't have any grandparents who doted on her in Seattle. It didn't take her long to find a cab and, in less than an hour, she had arrived at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. The taxi left her in the ER area, so she entered from that side instead that from the visitors' entrance. Once she was inside she nearly collided with a tall guy who was running very fast "sorry ma'am!" he shouted running towards another area of the hospital.

She didn't even had the chance to tell him that it was no problem, because he had disappeared. She was asking herself who she could ask about her kids' rooms, when she saw her, or at least she thought it was her. She got closer and examined the blonde doctor, it definitely looked like Meredith. She was talking with a couple of younger doctors, probably interns; once she was done and the two girls scurried away, Carolyn got closer to her and she turned around.

"I wasn't sure it was you, but…"

"Mrs. Shepherd… hi!" said Meredith smiling nervously.

"I've already told you to call me Carolyn. You're my son's wife, that means you're family!" she answered smiling back. She put her things down and enveloped her daughter in law in a hug.

"How was the flight… Carolyn?" asked Meredith when they were done hugging.

"Pretty uneventful…"

"I'm really sorry about not picking you up, but my shift started at 1:30…"

"You don't have to worry dear. I raised five doctors, I know how demanding this job is… coming here by cab was more than all right!" she reassured her

"I had to call in some favors to get off so many days around Christmas, but I really want Zola to enjoy this one, it will be the first she remembers…"

"That was a very good idea Meredith… now, speaking about that adorable grandbaby of mine, where can I find her?"

"You know what? I'll take you to Derek's room… everything seems quiet now, I sent the interns to get the lab results, I have a few minutes free!" she exclaimed.

"All right then… lead the way!" the two women went to get the elevator, making small talk and smiling, Meredith was confident that this was going well.

Once they got on the third floor, they walked towards Lizzie's room, and as they were opening the door Jackson ran towards them "Meredith! There you are!"

"Hi Jackson, what's up?"

"I'm working on this firefighter who suffered second degrees burns to the upper part of his body while he was working on a fire that started in chemical plant… he has some damage to his abdomen caused by a ruptured pipe, I've had Shane taking him to CT, but I'd like you to come and see the scans and tell me what you think…" he said out of breath.

"Of course, I'll be right there… I was just showing Derek's mom where Derek, Lizzie and Zola are…" she answered.

"Oh… sorry about that, I interrupted without even presenting myself… it's very nice to meet you Mrs. Shepherd, I'm Jackson Avery" he smiled brightly offering his hand, Carolyn took it smiling back and she answered "The pleasure is mine Dr. Avery, I'm Carolyn Shepherd! Now that you've shown me the room you can go Meredith… go save lives!" she smiled as she opened the door to room 332.

"We'll catch up more tomorrow" promised Meredith "I have the day off!"

"All right dear… I'm looking forward to that. Will I see you tonight?"

"I hope to be home around 8:30" answered Meredith already walking towards the elevator.

"See you later…" she said entering the room and finding her kids and granddaughter waiting for her inside.

"Nana!" exclaimed an excited voice.

"Hi Zola! It's so nice to finally meet you!" she said getting down on the little girl level and giving her a hug, Zola hugged her nana close and grinned.

"Hi mom" said Derek when his daughter had let go of her nana.

"Derek, it's been too long!" she said hugging him as well; then she went to hug Lizzie who was already sitting in a wheelchair waiting to be released from the hospital "How do you guys feel?" she asked.

"Pretty good" said Lizzie smiling "Same for me" agreed Derek "Are we ready to go home?" asked him "Do you have everything in your bag Liz?" his sister nodded.

"Okay, I'll page Alex and he'll take us home…" he said grabbing his pager.

"Unca Ales is her dada!" she said pointing to the door.

The little girl was right, Alex was entering the room in that same moment "Are you guys ready to go home?" he asked.

"Yup!" exclaimed Zola getting close to him in order to get a kiss.

He gathered the little girl in his arms and planted a kiss on her cheek "Good afternoon Mrs. Shepherd, good to see you again…" he said offering his free right hand to the older lady.

"Good to see you too Alex, how are you?"

"Really well, thank you. And you?"

"I'm doing great… especially now that I've met my beautiful granddaughter!" she smiled at Zola.

"Off we go then…" said Derek "How about you let nana hold you Zozo? Uncle Alex has to push aunt Lizzie…"

"Okay" the little girl agree right away and her grandmother scooped her up in her arms, Carolyn inhaled her baby scent and she smiled at her son "She's perfect Derek!" she told him.

"I know…" he answered "A family with Meredith is everything I've always wanted" he confessed.

"I'm glad that your wish came true son…" she said hugging her granddaughter close.

**Okay so, mama Shepherd is here! She finally met Zola and she loved her of course. Zola is adorable, who wouldn't love her? I hope I did good with Zola's bits of talking… I haven't been in contact with a two year old in a long time, I did my best. Next chapter is going to be McFamily at the house in the woods… please press the pretty blue button and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Stay tuned for the next! **


	4. Picture perfect

**AN: I'm very very sorry for the delay of this chapter, but I had two exams in the last week and I had to focus on that. Thanks for the reviews and the likes… I hope you're still with me! Enjoy chapter four.**

Meredith followed Jackson, she took a look at the CT scan and established that she had to operate on the firefighter with him, since the pipe had damaged the intestine, she was confident she could repair it, but it would have been a long surgery. She was glad to be operating with Jackson though, they hadn't scrubbed in together in quite some time.

"So, what's up with you and April?" she asked as she was scrubbing her hands before entering the OR.

"What do you mean?" he asked playing innocent.

"Well, you were all sex crazed and then, all of a sudden, you don't even spend time together anymore and you brought dates to Bailey's wedding… it was a bit weird" she arched an eyebrow at him, rinsing her hands.

"Why don't you ask her? She was the one that dumped me cause things could have gotten too serious" he retorted.

"Seriously?" Meredith was confused.

"Yeah!" he simply said opening the door to the OR and Meredith dropped the subject knowing he wouldn't want to keep talking about that with an audience, she would have pressed for more information after surgery.

* * *

The ride home was pretty uneventful for Alex and the Shepherd family, at least until they got on the ferry. Zola had inherited her father's love for ferryboats and she pointed out everything she could recognize to her nana. Carolyn Shepherd had already fallen head over hills for the little girl.

"You really do live in the middle of nowhere bro!" exclaimed Lizzie, ten minutes into their car ride from the ferry dock towards the house.

"That's the best part" he smiled.

"Don't you have any neighbors?" asked his mother a little concerned.

"There are some houses just five minutes away from our land actually" he reassured her.

After a twenty minutes' drive they reached the back of the house, where the garage was.

"Wow! It really is a mansion…" Lizzie let out a low whistle.

"Wait until you see the inside" answered Alex turning the engine off, he proceeded to grab Mrs. Shepherd's stuff, while she helped Lizzie to walk and Derek held Zola's hand. The five of them walked around the house and got to the front door.

"The view is breathtaking son…"

"That's my favorite part" smiled Derek as he turned the key into the doorknob "Make yourselves at home" he added after he had opened the door.

"Unca Ales com play!" ordered Zola as soon as they had walked thought the door; he set Carolyn's stuff on the floor and followed her in front of the couch, where there was a box with her stuffed animals.

"Zozo, you be good for uncle Alex while I give nana and aunt Lizzie the tour of the house, all right?!"

"Otay" she answered quickly, her beloved lion in her hand already; Alex grinned at her as he picked up a giraffe.

After he had showed his mother and sister the house, the three of them got back to the living room and found Alex and Zola still busy playing. It was already past four o' clock and Derek was sure that Zola would have succumbed to sleep pretty early that night, with all the excitement of the day she hadn't taken her usual nap.

"Dada!" she exclaimed spotting him.

"Hey baby girl… are you having fun with Alex?" she nodded and then went on "He's de bestest!"

Alex chuckled and tickled the little girl who shrieked.

"Let's put your stuff in your room ma…" said Derek glancing towards his mother's bags; Alex got up right away and gathered the bags "Where do they go?"

"In the room right in front of the stairs, thanks… Mere and I thought it was best for Lizzie to be here on the ground floor" he explained.

When Alex got back downstairs he found the Shepherd sitting on the sofa chatting, Zola was sitting on her father's lap, the lion still in her little hands.

"You back!" she excitedly said.

"Yes I am miss Zola" he answered smiling broadly at her.

"Play?" she asked, squirming in her father's lap.

"Sure, why not. You are, after all, my favorite lady"

She grinned widely at him as he, once more, got down on the floor next to her.

"Hey Alex…" Derek sidetracked the younger man moments after he had started to play "Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"Yeah!" cried out Zola excitedly.

"Sure!" agreed Alex grinning "There's no other place I'd rather be…"

"Great" said Carolyn getting up from the couch "I'm going to make my infamous breaded parmesan chicken, with baked potatoes and whatever vegetables I'll find in the kitchen Derek"

"Your breaded parmesan chicken is the best ma" agreed Derek getting up with her "I'll give you a hand, while these two take care of Zozo…"

* * *

After a five hours surgery Meredith and Jackson were finally able to finish their surgery, they had saved the young firefighter and they were tiredly scrubbing out.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked once they were alone.

"What do you mean?"

"With you and April, three weeks ago she had a meltdown because she was afraid of being pregnant and now you're avoiding each other."

"Well she's the one that took the decision and she's also the one who proposed to have dates at Bailey's wedding" he said quietly after a while.

"So?" Meredith was completely missing the point.

"If it wasn't for her I never would have gone to the wedding with Stephanie and I would have never slept with her…"

"You slept with Edwards?!" she interrupted him yelling.

"Yeah I did, but I'd rather not have the entire hospital know" he mumbled.

"Are you in a relationship with her now?" she pressed him drying her hands.

"No, we hooked up once and then we sort of ignored each other afterwards."

"I really don't understand why you cannot patch things up with April though" insisted Meredith, taking off her purple scrub cap.

"It's not that simple, she still can't get over the fact that she lost her virginity and after the pregnancy scare she was so relieved and she made me feel so cheap somehow…"

"Oh, okay. But still, I've always thought there was something special between you two" she went on.

"I thought so too…" he chuckled "But maybe I was wrong."

"Don't say that Jackson. I was afraid of letting myself fall in love too and that lead me to some not so smart choices, maybe April is scared as well, if you care about her you have to fix this or you'll end up regretting it" she said patting him on the shoulder.

"You really are a great friend, you know that?" he mumbled after a while.

"I try my best" she smiled "I really care about both of you… we've come a long way, since the day you invaded us from Mercy West" she grinned at him.

"Yeah, I can't believe it's been three years already" he said recalling his first day in SGMW hospital with April, Charles and Reed… so much had changed, the doctors that he saw as competition had become good friends of him and he was pretty sure he was falling in love with his best friend.

"I can't either…" mused Meredith opening the door "Anyway, if you need somebody to talk to you can count on me" she added, a genuine smile gracing her face.

"Thanks, I know that…" he smiled back "Now why don't you go home, I bet Derek and the rest of the family are waiting for you!"

"Don't you want me to come with you and talk to the family and his colleagues?"

"Nope, I'll be fine. Enjoy the night and have fun tomorrow!" he grinned at her "Thanks for the talk" he added.

"It was my pleasure" she grinned back.

* * *

She managed to arrive home around 8:30, just like she had planned. Zola was already in bed. She tiptoed into her daughter's room and gave her a kiss on the forehead, then she went back to the kitchen where Derek, his mother and sister were sitting sipping coffee.

"How did the rest of the afternoon go?" asked Carolyn.

"I operated with Dr. Avery on a firefighter. We saved him, so it was all good, but I'm pretty beat now" she answered stifling a yawn.

"We saved you some dinner" said Derek giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Our mom made her amazing breaded parmesan chicken, with baked potatoes and peas" added Lizzie.

"It sounds heavenly" said Meredith already peering into the casserole.

"Let me reheat that for you Mere, go sit down" said Derek getting up.

"Alex had dinner with us, he's a great guy" said Carolyn as soon as Meredith sat down.

"He is, but I'm not so sure he knows that…" answered Meredith smiling.

"He's coming back tomorrow to get his car and leave us yours" added Derek, after having turned the microwave on.

"Okay" nodded Meredith, yawning again.

"You look really tired Mere" said Lizzie sounding concerned.

"I've been sleeping on a hospital couch for more than a week and I've been on call last night… I'm, really looking forward to sleeping in my comfy bed tonight"

"With your handsome husband" threw in Derek.

"You're so full of yourself!" she stuck her tongue out at him, while Lizzie and Carolyn laughed.

After she had finished eating, she went to have a shower and got ready for bed.

"I'm sorry, I've been a bad host today" she told Carolyn, once she had emerged from the bathroom wearing a light blue pajama, her hair still wet.

"Nonsense dear, we've got a lot of time for you to be a good host… now go get some rest and we'll see you tomorrow morning" she reassured her.

"All right, good night" she said retreating to the master bedroom.

"Good night" answered both women.

"Night guys" added Derek kissing them both on the cheeks "I'm going to bed as well"

"See you tomorrow bro"

"Good night sweetheart"

Once he got into bed next to Meredith he gathered into his arms, inhaling her lavender scent.

"Good night Mere, sweet dreams" he whispered.

"Mmmh… night Der" she whispered back, getting closer to him in order to give him a kiss.

"Love you" he murmured after they had kissed.

"Love you too" she said quietly, her eyes already succumbing to sleep.

As he laid in bed, holding the woman he loved in his arms Derek couldn't help but think about how fortunate he was. They had each other, a beautiful daughter and a baby on the way. It looked like his hand was finally fixed and they were going to spend Christmas with part of their family. Life couldn't really get any better than this, he reflected as he was falling asleep.

**So, this chapter didn't have a lot of MerDer interaction, but I'm building up the story for what is about to happen… the family Christmas. I hope you liked it. Please leave me your thoughts and also, some ideas for Lizzie's kids names. I'll try to update over the weekend.**


	5. A blast from the past

**AN: I know I said I was going to update over the weekend, but it's only Monday, close enough. Right?! Now that those two big exams are over I've got more free time. Thanks for the two people who left me names suggestions, I would have answered to **_**luvmer**_** as well, but you've got your PMs turned off, so I can never thank you for your reviews! Anyway here is the fifth chapter, enjoy.**

Derek was woken up by a soft snoring sound coming from his wife, the morning of Thursday December the 20th. He was glad to be finally back in his own bed, also because he didn't have to worry about his pregnant wife having to sleep on the uncomfortable hospital couch. He snuggled close to her, placing a hand on her still flat stomach, at almost ten weeks their unborn child was the size of a grape, approximately an inch long and was starting to look more and more like a real person. He still couldn't believe it, almost, Derek felt so much love for the baby already that he had to express it somehow.

"Hey there…" he started to whisper "I'm your daddy. Your mommy and I kind of lost hope… you came as a complete surprise! I cannot wait till we finally tell your sister about you, she'll be so excited… I hope you won't tire your mom too much, because we've got some pretty busy days ahead of us, I cannot wait to hear your heartbeat again…"

"Der… who are you talking to?" Meredith's sleepy voice interrupted his musings.

"Did I wake you?" he asked.

"No, we went to bed before ten o' clock yesterday night, we were bound to wake up early, but you still haven't told me who you were speaking to though…"

"I was talking to the baby" he sheepishly admitted.

"Oh…" she was dumbstruck and touched by the news.

"I do know that, even though the ears are formed the baby won't be able to hear until the 20th week, but I felt like talking to her or him…" he defended himself.

"I think that's very cute" she replied smiling at him.

"You do?"

"Of course I do" she reassured him.

He grinned at her still caressing her stomach "What were you saying to the baby?" she asked curiously.

"Well, the usual stuff you know…"

"Nope, I don't know. I haven't talked to the baby yet… I'm pretty sure I'd screw that up" she grimaced, wrinkling her nose.

"Don't be silly Mere, you'd do great. You can talk to the baby about anything and everything, just like you do with Zozo" he reassured her.

"Yeah? Well, I just don't want to get too attached you know… what if my crappy uterus decides to pull another stunt?!"

"Oh Mere, don't say that. You're doing everything the doctor told you to do, the eighth weeks ultrasound went great, just a little more than two weeks till the end of the first trimester and then we can relax…" he murmured as he gathered into his arms. Meredith let herself crash into his hug, the sound of his even breathing comforting her, the beat of his heart reminding her of their baby's strong heartbeat.

"Hi baby…" she murmured after a while, still embracing Derek "I really cannot wait to meet you, I bet your big sister will be very excited about you…"

Derek smiled at her encouraging her to go on, but her next words were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Come on in…"

"Somebody couldn't wait any longer and really wanted to come wake you guys up" said Carolyn entering the room, Zola perched on her hip.

"Is that right baby?!" asked Meredith grinning at the obvious enthusiasm the little girl was feeling.

"Nana said she makes pcakes!" exclaimed the girl "And I help" she went on grinning.

"That's great news Zozo, are you going to make pancakes for mommy, daddy and aunt Lizzie too?"

" 'corse" she answered right away.

"So we didn't wake you?" asked Carolyn, sitting with Zola on the edge of the bed, letting the girl go kiss her parents good morning.

"No, don't worry. We were already up" reassured Meredith ruffling her girl's hair.

"Okay then, miss Zola. We have breakfast to prepare" said Carolyn getting up, Zola close behind her.

"Christmas with my family is going to be so much fun" teased Derek grinning. Meredith hit him playfully on the chest, the she got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to get dressed.

* * *

Hours later, after lunch, Zola was taking her nap, Lizzie and Derek were skyping with Amelia in LA, while Meredith and Carolyn were enjoying a cup of tea in the kitchen.

"So, I was thinking we could go grocery shopping tomorrow. Since I'll have the night shift, that way we'll get everything we need to prepare a Christmas feast."

"That's fine by me, are you sure you want to spend the day shopping though? It can be really stressful, just four days before Christmas" warned Carolyn.

"I imagine, but this is the first Christmas Zola will remember and I want her to have the best experience ever. I'm looking forward to her meeting some of her cousins finally… plus I know that with you by my side I won't be able to screw up" she smiled nervously.

"You're right about that…" nodded Carolyn "I'm sure it will be great, don't worry. Zola will have a blast. Now what do you think about baking some cookies? Maybe try some recipes…"

"Well, I've never had a great relationship with baking, but I can give it a try…" she answered getting up to go retrieve the cooking book Izzie had given her, when she had tried to teach her the basic skills of cooking.

"Well _The joy of cooking_ is definitely a must-have in every kitchen" she praised her daughter in law. "I have a copy as well, my husband got it for me right after we were married, he was afraid I'd have starved him to death!" she smiled taking a look at the bright cover of Meredith's much newer book. She then opened it and a photo came flying out of the pages, falling on the kitchen island. Carolyn took a look at the picture, a smiling brunette woman was holding Zola, who was dressed in a hot pink dress and had cake smeared all over her face. She remembered meeting the young woman when she had first came to Seattle. As she turned around to face Meredith, ready to ask about the occasion when the photo was taken, she noticed that her eyes had gotten sad, so she refrained herself.

"That's my sister Lexie…" Meredith said after a while, staring at the happy moment that would forever be remembered. "She died in the plane crash we were involved in…" she added after a moment, even though Carolyn knew that already "Zola loved her very much, she was her _ant Lex_… I still cannot believe that she won't be here for Christmas"

Carolyn put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, she was at a loss of words.

"I think we should hang this picture in Zola's room, she needs to have memories of her aunt…" she went on as tears streamed down her face.

"Yeah, I think so too. We should get her a nice frame and hang it right next to the photo of the three of you she has over her bed…"

"Lexie loved Christmas" whispered Meredith a little while later. "She was so full of joy, she was a great doctor, a good sister and a wonderful aunt.. she loved Mark dearly, I was sure they would have gotten married someday…" she put the picture back on the cool surface of the kitchen island.

"Mark was crazy about her too!" added Carolyn "He had called me not too long before the crash and told me that she had confessed her love and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her… he found it ironic that Derek and him had fallen in love with two sisters"

"I miss him a lot too" confessed Meredith.

"We all do" added Carolyn. "We don't have to make cookies if you don't feel like it" she said after a little pause.

"No, I want to. I think Zola would love a snack when she wake up" answered Meredith trying to smile.

Derek and Lizzie found them busy mixing the cookie dough, when they had finished talking with Amy.

"Amy will bring her boyfriend for Christmas" announced Derek walking behind Meredith, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I didn't know she had one" said Carolyn.

"His name is James and she seems to really like him" Lizzie gave her input from the couch, where she was resting her legs, they were hurting a little.

"Have I ever scared any of your boyfriends of girlfriends?" she asked looking at both her kids, Derek just dismissed her comment, while Lizzie made a face.

"I never brought a boyfriend home" said Meredith.

"Seriously?" Lizzie was astonished.

"My mother was never home, there was no point for me to bring a guy home for her to meet.." she shrugged, adding the chocolate to the mix.

"Well, I kind of envy you" confessed Lizzie.

"I really don't recall saying anything wrong with any of the boys you brought home" Carolyn reprimanded her daughter, getting a cookie sheet.

"Who said I had a problem with you, Ma?! Being the fourth kid was not so simple… I had a reputation to live up to" she scrunched up her nose.

"I didn't know you had such an inferiority complex because of me Liz!" grinned Derek. She stuck her tongue out at him, while Meredith and Carolyn laughed and placed the cookies in the oven.

* * *

Cristina called Meredith when she was making dinner with Carolyn and told her she would have come along with Alex and her car after she was done with her shift, so Meredith invited the both of them to eat with them. Carolyn had baked the marinated salmon in the oven and she was going to serve it with a side of wild rice and stir-fried vegetables, Meredith had tried her best to help. When Alex and Cristina arrived around 7:30, he was holding an envelope addressed to Derek and Meredith Shepherd. It was a Christmas card from Addison, her husband Jake and their son Henry. Derek and Meredith decided they would have called Addie the following day in order to catch up, then the seven of them sat down to eat. Carolyn was a great cook, Meredith was glad that she was going to spend some time with them, she was looking forward to learn some tips from her. After dinner Lizzie insisted to do the dishes and Derek went to bathe Zola, so Meredith sat with her friends and Carolyn on the couch, enjoying some chocolate chip cookies.

"This are really good" mumbled Alex, his mouth full.

"You should know better than to talk with your mouth full!" Cristina reprimanded him "They're really good though… where did you get them?"

"We baked them" answered Meredith happily munching on her third cookie.

"Wow, you baked and the kitchen is still doing all right? I'm impressed!" grinned Cristina.

"Do you have such a bad experience with cooking?" wondered Carolyn.

"Let's just say that I used to have cold leftover pizza for breakfast" answered Meredith sheepishly.

"I love cold pizza!" exclaimed Lizzie from the sink.

"Me too" agreed Alex.

"Your son is a healthnut though, so I follow a much better diet now…" Meredith reassured Carolyn, who smiled at her.

"I'll go make some coffee, who wants some?" asked the older woman getting up from the couch, in order to give the three of them some privacy. Both Alex and Cristina said yes, while Meredith declined the offer. "Can I make you some tea?" proposed Carolyn.

"That would be lovely, thanks" Meredith smiled gratefully.

"So mama Shepherd is pretty great" whispered Cristina, once Carolyn had joined Lizzie in the kitchen.

"She really is, I'm glad to have her here. But let's not talk about her while she's in the adjoining room, shall we" answered Meredith.

"Fine… what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, we could talk about you and your divorced husband for example…"

"They're doing it like rabbits!" said Alex grabbing another cookie "I should know since we share a house and all..."

"Or we could talk about you and your little intern girlfriend…" grumbled Cristina.

"Jo and I are just friends. She sees me like a brother and I see her like a little sister, like Amber" he clarified.

"You spend all your time together, it's not normal" Cristina arched an eyebrow at him.

"You spend all your time with your ex-husband, that's not normal either" snickered Alex.

"Looks like I'm the only one with a healthy, normal relationship then" Meredith grinned at her two best friends.

"Well, I wouldn't call you and McDreamy normal, but… sure, you've got a pretty healthy relationship" Cristina grinned back.

"Guess who doesn't have a healthy relationship now?" continued Meredith.

"Apes and Jackson" answered Cristina.

"Yeah, how do you know?"

"According to Jo he slept with Stephanie…"

"I did not know that! Be sure to thank your little girlfriend for this gossip…"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Whatever you say…" Cristina kept on teasing him.

"Well, he did sleep with her, but he said that it's April's fault" Meredith went on.

"How is that even possible?" asked Alex.

"He tried to explain that to me, he was really upset, I might have to talk to him some more…"

The three of them were still discussing hospital gossip when Derek and Zola joined them. His shirt was soaked, but the little girl was wearing a big smile on her face and a pair of adorable purple pajamas with teddy bears on them.

"Did you have fun in the bath Zozo?" asked Alex.

"Yup unca Ales!" she answered excitedly, getting on her mother's lap.

"Are you ready for your bedtime story Zo?" asked Meredith, the little girl just nodded and she snuggled closer to her. Derek and Meredith took her to say goodnight to Carolyn and Lizzie, then they took her to her room where Derek read her _Bedtime for baby star!_ which had become her favorite bedtime story. When he was done reading Zola's eyes were getting heavier, both of them gave her a kiss and stood there, staring at her until they were sure she had fallen asleep.

"Sweet dreams baby girl" whispered Meredith kissing her once again.

"Can you believe we'll have two of them in seven months?" asked Derek.

"Some days I hardly can, but I'm really looking forward to it…" was her honest response, unshed tears of joy shining in her eyes. He closed the distance between their bodies, crashing into her, kissing her fully on the mouth, his right hand tangled in her honey blonde hair. When breathing became a necessity they broke away from each other, locking eyes.

"I love you so much Mere… and I cannot wait to expand our family"

"I love you too Der and I'm really looking forward to that as well" she smiled.

"You know you're a great mom, right?" he went on.

"Thanks. You're an amazing father as well… our kids are lucky to have you" she whispered.

"Not as lucky as they are to have you as their mom"

They gave one last look to the sleeping Zola, then they left her room and joined the others in the living room. They spent the rest of the evening planning for Christmas and, surprisingly, even Cristina gave some input.

**So, this was chapter five… a fluff fest in my opinion, but I'm all for the fluff and I hope you liked it. It was also heavy on MerDer because they're the reason I started this story in the first place. I hope you enjoyed Lexie's mention, I miss her so much. Please drop me a line and tell me your thoughts. In the next chapter Lizzie's family finally arrives. Stay tuned! **


	6. Welcome to our world

**AN: I guys, sorry for the super delayed chapter, I've had some health issues, stupid cold who doesn't want to disappear, if only winter could finally go away and let spring grace us with its presence. Anyway, here is chapter six, thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter.**

Meredith and Carolyn managed to get all the Christmas grocery shopping done during the morning of December 21st, in the meantime Zola, Derek and Lizzie finished decorating the tree and the house. The lights that had been hung around the rain gutter by Alex were joined by a Christmas garland with pine cones and red bows which adorned the door, welcoming the two women when they got back with a trunk full of food and beverage. What truly astonished them though, was the beauty and the jollity of the living room. A tall Douglas-fir tree stood next to the fireplace, decorated with gold, red, silver and blue baubles, lights, snowflakes, tinsel, ornaments of every color and a beautiful golden angel on top. Ten Christmas stockings were lined up on the fireplace ready to be filled with presents, each one of them had a name sewed on it with bright red letters. Branches of mistletoe were hanging around the living room area and the air smelled like cinnamon, apples and chocolate.

"Hey guys, everything looks really great in here" said Meredith upon entering, putting two bags down on the kitchen counter, followed by Carolyn with another two bags.

"We dcorat mama!" exclaimed Zola padding towards her, dressed in a pair of jeans and a bright red sweater with a snowflake on it, she gave her mother a hug and a kiss.

"You did a very good job, baby" she complimented the girl tapping her on the nose.

"Fanks mama" she smiled toothlessly.

"Hey, we helped too" whined Derek getting closer to the two of them, giving Meredith a kiss on the lips and tickling his daughter. She started laughing and nodded "Daddy and anty Lizy elpd too" she conceded.

"Well, good job to all of you, then" said Meredith smiling.

"What's this amazing smell?" asked Carolyn.

"We made an apple crumble, following your recipe ma" answered Lizzie pointing to the cake in the oven.

"I'll go get the other bags in the car" said Meredith walking towards the front door. When she got back she found Derek waiting for her directly under a branch of mistletoe, a cheeky grin on his face "what?" she asked playing innocent.

"I believe we're standing under some mistletoe"

"That we are" she agreed.

"Then I believe there should be some kissing…" he added.

"I agree, but fist let me put these bags down" she said letting them slide on the floor. As soon as that happened Derek's lips were onto hers, full of passion and lust, his tongue demanding entrance in the warm cave of her mouth. She granted access right away, moaning in pleasure when his good hand got tangled in her hair. When the kiss ended both were panting, their hearts pounding "I think I'm really going to enjoy all the mistletoe" whispered Derek grinning widely.

"Your dad is a sap" confided Lizzie to Zola, the little girl just nodded smiling.

"I heard that" said Derek feigning offence and letting go of Meredith, glaring at his sister.

"Well, it's true" Lizzie grinned, while Meredith tried to compose herself and brought the bags on the counter as well. The family put the groceries away together, then they enjoyed a quick lunch and an afternoon of baking and discovering the wonders of stand mixers. Meredith finally felt more comfortable in her own kitchen, hosting a Christmas family dinner didn't sound too scary anymore.

* * *

When she started her 24 hours shift, that would have ended at 7 p.m. on December 22nd Meredith mused that she was really looking forward to her first _proper family Christmas_ the one she never had growing up, the one her father had tried to give her before Ellis had packed them up and moved them to Boston, the one that she wanted Zola and the baby to have for their entire lives. The following day she was going to go pick up Lizzie's family at the airport with Alex; he was driving Derek's car, that way nobody had to be left at home. Then she would have had another night shift, just a 12 hours one from 8 p.m. on December 23rd and she would have been off starting from the 24th going back to work on January 3rd.

"Hey, want to grab a bite to eat?" asked Callie around 9 o' clock, after they had done a consult for April on a boy who had fallen from the bleachers at his school.

"Sure, why not? I'm starving" she smiled.

"Look, there's Cristina as well"

"Hey, want to come eat with us?" asked Meredith when they were joined by the other doctor.

"Sure, why not… this is a really slow night" she complained following them towards the cafeteria. After they had gotten dinner the three of them sat down at a table, deciding it was a nice chance to catch up with the latest news about one another.

"So how's it going with the family over for Christmas?" asked Callie genuinely curious.

"Surprisingly well" Meredith smiled.

"She even baked cookies yesterday, without burning them" added Cristina while munching on her hamburger.

"Do go on" prompted Callie, taking a bite from her turkey, lettuce and mayo sandwich.

"Derek's mom is really nice, she fell in love with Zola, who loves all the attention she's been getting from her and Lizzie. She's been teaching me how to cook, after learning how to bake cookies she's going to tell me everything about the wonders of the mixer. I'm actually looking forward to hosting Zola's first proper Christmas and also hosting it at our house…"

"Sofia and us are really looking forward to Christmas at the Shepherds as well" answered Callie and then added "Arizona wants to know if we have to bring something over. She told me to remind you that she makes amazing eggnog" she grinned.

"Then you guys should bring that and maybe some tequila as well" answered Cristina.

"It's Christmas, not a bachelorette party!" Callie reprimanded her.

"How about we promise you a fun girls night out after the holiday season is over?" proposed Meredith.

"Fine, whatever. Both of you guys got a little boring after you both had spawns… but I still love you and I love your spawns as well" she shrugged her shoulders and tried to mask a grin on her face.

Meredith grinned back "Arizona really should make her eggnog though" she winked.

"I'll be sure to tell her" agreed Callie and then went on "did you and Derek finished to buy all the presents for Zola?"

"Thankfully yes, we finished almost two weeks ago and I got presents for her four cousins this morning, I asked Lizzie for input and I hope her kids will like them."

"From my personal experience kids really love to open presents, that's all and I bet they'll have plenty of presents to open on Christmas morning!"

"Yeah they will…" mused Meredith chewing on her chicken, lettuce and cheese sandwich.

Just as the three of them were finishing their meals, all of their pagers went off signaling a 911 in the pit, a car accident caused by the heavy rain. Cristina was the most enthusiastic of course, she hoped there was something surgical for her to operate on, she really hated slow nights.

* * *

When Meredith finally got home at almost 9 o' clock on December 22nd she was just about ready to collapse. She had been nauseous all day and she hadn't been able to hold on to any of the food she had eaten. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep until it was time to get up and go to the airport. Since there were guests at home she wasn't so sure she was going to be able to do that, though. To top it off her little girl was already sleeping and she felt bad because she had lost an entire day of her life.

"Welcome home" said Carolyn and Lizzie, when they saw her enter the door.

"Thanks guys. Where is Derek?"

"He's in the shower. He should get out really soon though. Tough day at work?" asked Carolyn, even if she could read that on her daughter in law's tired face.

"You can say that. I've spent all night working on a car accident patient and today I had scheduled a tumor removal which was supposed to be easy, but actually was not. I'm just thankful to be home and I'm relieved about having a couple of weeks off, a 12 hours shift is the only thing separating me from the long awaited holidays" she revealed plopping herself on the sofa next to Lizzie.

"I get the feeling" said the woman, patting her back.

"Are you hungry?" asked Carolyn a little concerned with Meredith. Her face was pale and her eyes had dark circles beneath them, something looked off.

"I feel too tired to eat" was her feeble response.

"You should eat something Mere" whispered Lizzie, since she knew that her sister in law was pregnant and it wasn't good for her to skip meals.

"I will, I just want to shower first…" she reassured the other woman.

"What do you feel like eating?" asked Carolyn sitting next to her.

"I don't know… whatever you have ready is fine by me" she really was too exhausted to care.

Just as Carolyn was about to persist about what her choice was, Derek came out of the master bedroom and smiled brightly when he saw his wife "hey there… long day?"

"You can say that" she answered quietly.

"I heard your voice when I got out of the shower and figured you might have liked a hot bath, so I turned the water on and put some lavender and vanilla essential oils inside… how would you feel about soaking in there for a while now?" he asked tilting his head and giving her his patented _McDreamy smile_.

"You are perfect" she answered finally getting up and giving him a quick kiss on the lips, before disappearing in the en suite of their bedroom.

"She didn't tell me what she wants to eat" complained Carolyn looking at her son.

"Some soup will be fine" reassured her Derek, taking Meredith's place on the sofa.

"Okay then, I'll reheat her some chicken soup. I'm worried though, she looks really pale…"

"She must be very tired ma" said Derek sharing a meaningful look with his sister.

"All right, all right… you know me son, I always worry too much"

After a long relaxing bath and a bowl of chicken soup Meredith felt refreshed, but still tired, although she was starting to blame that on the pregnancy. It was a good thing though, since being tired and having morning sickness meant that she was still pregnant. She couldn't wait until the end of the first trimester, she hoped she was going to be less frightened about the possibility of losing the baby and she could concentrate on actually being happy about the pregnancy.

"I'm going to bed guys" she said stifling a yawn after her evening tea.

"Be sure to sleep a lot, you look really tired Meredith" Carolyn was still looking concerned.

"I will, don't worry. I'm a really heavy sleeper" she cracked a smile.

"And she also snores" piped in Derek grinning.

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Carolyn.

"It's true" nodded Meredith and then added "Derek has to wear earplugs"

"Good night Mere" said Lizzie giving her a quick hug.

"Night Liz… I'm really looking forward to meet your family" she smiled.

"They are excited about meeting you and Zola as well" Lizzie reassured.

With that Meredith went to check on Zola quickly, she gave the girl a kiss on the forehead and went into her room hoping for a good night sleep, Derek close behind her.

"You didn't have to come to bed with me, Der…"

"I wanted to, we weren't together last night and I really missed you" he protested.

"Your sister is right, you know? You really are a sap!" she grinned plopping herself down on the mattress.

"You secretly love it" he answered closing the distance between their bodies and giving her a soft kiss on the lips. She put her left hand on his chest, prolonging the kiss, sighing softly "I missed you too last night…" she finally confessed.

"I knew it… you're a sap as well" he grinned.

"It might be true" she conceded turning her bedside lap off "I think you ruined me..."

"It's okay, that's one of the many reasons why I love you" he whispered turning his light off as well and closing the distance between their bodies once again in order to be spooning with her.

"Love you too…" she murmured drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The following morning was pretty chaotic. Zola was really hyper because she knew she was meeting her cousins today. Meredith woke up feeling nauseous once again and could only have toast for breakfast even though she was really hungry. Carolyn was still preoccupied with her daughter in law, but decided to let it slide, until she could have a talk with her eye to eye. Alex arrived at 9 o' clock sharp and they were out of the door by 9:30, after having offered Alex some breakfast. They arrived at the airport with some time to spare and they found parking fairly quickly.

"What are your nephews' names again, Derek?"

"The oldest one is Evan, then there's Samantha and then Emma and Spencer who are twins and Lizzie's husband's name is Scott" he answered, squeezing her left arm affectionately.

"Okay… Evan, Samantha, Emma, Spencer and Scott… got it" she repeated.

"You'll be perfectly fine, don't worry" he reassured her looking at Zola entertaining his mom and sister, as well as Alex.

"I hope so… you know I'm not that great with family" she grimaced.

"My mother loves you" he said convincingly and he added "Lizzie loves you too and so will her family, stop worrying" he kissed her on the tip of her nose and added "I really hope baby will have your nose as well!" She cracked a smile and entwined their hands, closing the distance between themselves and the rest of the group.

"There they are!" exclaimed Lizzie a while later, after pointing to a group walking towards them. Her husband was tall and had dark blond hair, the two oldest kids had dark hair, while the twins had blond hair just like their dad, all five of them had bright blue eyes and big smiles on their faces.

"Hi mommy" they all chanted when they were close enough to hug her.

"Hi babies… I missed you so much" she hugged them all, then she looked at her husband a smiled brightly "I missed you too babe" she added giving him a kiss.

"So did I" he murmured after they were done kissing.

"You must be Evan, Samantha, Emma and Spencer… and you've got to be Scott" said Meredith when the family was done greeting each other.

"Yes" answered the twins, then Evan added "and you must be our aunt Meredith…"

"And that's our cousin Zola" piped inn Samantha.

Meredith smiled brightly "that's absolutely right guys… welcome to Seattle, say hi to your cousin Zozo"

"Hi!" exclaimed the little girl waving and giving them all a toothless smile.

"She's so cute" grinned Samantha.

"Yeah she is" nodded Lizzie.

"Ready to go?" asked Derek after having kissed and hugged his nephews and brother in law.

All kids nodded, after having kissed their grandma as well.

"This is our friend Alex, he will give some of you a ride, since your mom and uncle Derek cannot be driving right now…" explained Meredith.

"Unca Ales!" grinned Zola, gesturing Alex to be picked up, he bent down and grabbed her right away "Your carriage awaits Miss Zola… ready to show your cousins where you live?" he asked.

"Yup!"

"All right… off we go" he smiled, leading the group to the parking.

"Is it always this green?" asked Scott mesmerized by the colors surrounding the airport.

"Yeah, especially after the rain…" answered Derek smiling.

"I can see why you decided to start fresh over here, man" the other smiled back.

"Wait until you see the mansion!" exclaimed Lizzie grinning.

"Mansion?" questioned the kids.

"Yeah pretty much… it's bigger than Disneyland's castle" she reassured them.

"Don't exaggerate, sis!" reprimanded Derek, feeling really glad that part of his family had joined them for Christmas. Zola looked ecstatic and Meredith looked really happy too "Are you all right?" he asked his wife.

"Perfect" she reassured him smiling.

**So Lizzie's family is finally here. Yay! I've used some of the names you suggested me, I wanted the kids to only have names with E or S, just like their parents. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter, drop me a line and share your thoughts, constructive criticism or whatever you want. Stay tuned for chapter 7, I'll update either on Friday or on Saturday.  
**


	7. When your world splits down the middle

**AN: Hi guys, I'm really sorry for the delay of this chapter, but I've had some internet issues which are not even solved yet, these are the joys of switching provider. Anyway, thank you for the comments and the likes. Here is chapter 7, enjoy.**

The kids had a blast on the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge island; even if the air was crisp they had decided to enjoy the ride on the deck.

"This is awesome!" exclaimed Spencer looking at the view, perched on his father's hip.

"Indeed it is" agreed his father, taking a deep breath, the air was so much clearer and fresher here compared to New York.

"Isn't it cool that they have to take the ferry to go home, dad?" asked Evan, coming to stand next to his dad and younger brother.

"Well, you guys need to know that your uncle Derek has a thing for ferryboats" confided Meredith grinning, she was holding Zola who was staring at the ocean in awe.

"A thing?" wondered Emma.

"Yeah" Meredith nodded and then explained "he really loves them, it's the reason he moved to Seattle in the first place and the reason he loves this city so much…"

"I love them too uncle Derek, I wish we had to take the ferry home too, instead of the school bus" grinned Samantha.

"Well, you'll get to take it almost every day now that you're here, Sam" Derek reassured her niece "even if ferryboats are not the reason I love Seattle so much anymore" he then whispered in Meredith's ear, as she blushed a deep crimson.

"Cool!" exclaimed Spencer again "Oh, you guys… loo! There is a bunch of fishes over there…" he pointed.

Everybody took a look in that direction and Zola clapped her hands "dada an' me fishies" she giggled.

"Do you really take her fishing Der?" asked Liz, her tone disbelieving and vaguely accusingly.

"Of course I do, I got her a pink fishing pole and she loves it. Don't you Zozo?"

"I wuv it" she agreed right away.

"I think it's cute" said Carolyn smiling "I have a granddaughter who's a little _tomboy_"

"I is not a boy, nana" Zola corrected her indignantly right away, making everybody laugh.

"Of course not sweetie, but you love to play outdoors, right?" the little girl nodded and her grandma went on "well, that makes you a tomboy, instead of a girly girl" explained Carolyn and the little girl accepted what she was saying smiling brightly.

They disembarked the ferry on Bainbridge island and the two cars reached the Shepherd property after a twenty minutes ride, Scott and the kids were astonished by the house. The kids were especially thrilled with all the land that encircled the house, it was surrounded by evergreen trees and it overlooked the water, it made it so different from their house in Long Island. Back home they lived in a upper-class neighborhood, their house was big, but it was pretty similar to all the other houses in the community. Each one of them had their own room, but they certainly didn't have all the space that was available here, both in front and behind the house and they didn't have a personal playground like the one Zola had, just behind the house.

"Uncle Derek, you should build a pool!" exclaimed Evan, after he had explored the area surrounding the house with his younger siblings.

"You think?" all kids nodded affirmatively, even Zola clapped her hands excitedly and smiling toothlessly.

"We should ask aunt Meredith if it's okay with her…" continued Derek, making all the kids turn toward her. She giggled and nodded "I would definitely love to have a pool in our yard, as long as it has hot tub as well"

"All right then, it's settled" agreed Derek smiling "Evan, you and your brothers should come back to visit us this summer to enjoy the new pool" he then winked at his wife and added "we should talk more about that hot tub you mentioned, my dear" she just smiled sweetly back, playing innocent. Carolyn couldn't suppress a smile coming onto her face, seeing her son so completely happy and satisfied, willing to share his new life with the rest of his family made her incredibly overjoyed.

"Can we come visit uncle Derek, aunt Meredith and Zola this summer, mommy?" pleaded Samantha, before Evan added "Yes, can we please?"

"You've barely arrived and you want to come back already?"

The two of them nodded, followed suit by the twins who told their mother that a pool was going to be built on the property.

"Oh, I see… you just want to come over to use the pool" she laughed as all her kids proceeded to shook their heads no

"It's okay if you just want to come over for the pool… and the ferryboats" assured Meredith.

"But it's not just because of that" said Evan right away.

"Yeah… we _really,_ _really_ like you, aunt Meredith" added Sam.

"I really like you guys too" she answered smiling at them and Derek felt his heart swelling with pride. Meredith had come such a long way from the _dark and twisty girl_ he had met the night before the start of her internship. She was a caring mother, a wonderful friend and the best wife a man could ask for; she had also been an awesome big sister and he felt so sorry that she couldn't enjoy spending time with Lexie anymore. Now, seeing her so at ease with her sister and the rest of her family, he felt himself falling more and more in love with her. He literally couldn't wait to see her pregnancy progress and Zola becoming a big sister. His dream of building a family was coming true, life couldn't get any better than this, he thought as he took the little girl in his arms and he made her spin.

"Where do you want me to take the camping beds?" asked Alex coming out of the house, followed by Scott who had helped him taking the luggage inside.

"Take them to the rooms on the right of the one where my mom is sleeping, thanks so much" answered Derek.

When everything was inside, and the kids had decided that they could actually take a look inside the house as well, they all left the garden and entered the living room. Once again the kids were overwhelmed by the beauty of the decorated tree, the mistletoe and the stockings on the fireplace.

"It looks like Santa's house" whispered Emma.

"We dcorat" explained Zola.

"You did a good job" praised her Samantha.

"Anty Lizy and dada elpd too" she confessed afterwards.

"It's really amazing" added Spencer taking a look at all the ornaments on the tree.

"Do you want to see where you will be sleeping?" asked Meredith, her nephews all nodded, so she led them upstairs and showed them the two rooms they would be sharing. They had recovered the camping beds that had only been used on that infamous boys trip so many years ago, since they had been stored in the attic of Meredith's old house.

"So, I know that you all have your own room at home, but some of the rooms up here aren't even painted… I hope it's okay for you guys to share" she smiled.

"It's perfect" reassured her Samantha, taking a look at the room she was going to share with Emma, it was painted a pale yellow and it had a great view of the Seattle bay.

"The bathroom is over here" continued Meredith pointing to a door opposite the girls' room "and Zola usually plays downstairs, there is a playroom, but she's also allowed to play in the living room"

"What about homework?" asked Spencer.

"You really are a nerd little bro!" exclaimed Evan ruffling his hair.

"You can do your homework wherever you want, I think you'll really like the office we set up downstairs next to the playroom, it's really quiet and it's a great place to read and think" answered Meredith, feeling at ease with the kids. Even if she had only just met them she could already see Spencer was the most quiet of them all, he had a ton of books in his backpack and he often looked like he was lost in thought. Evan was a jock in the making, he had already told Meredith he played both basketball and football, he was really easygoing and loud, but he loved all his siblings dearly. Samantha was smart, she was a straight A's student, but she was also funny and she loved being in the drama club at her school and, most importantly, she instantly felt at ease with both Meredith and Zola. Emma was a girly girl, she was a ballerina and she loved the color pink, she was already planning on exploring the playroom along with Zola and the dolls she had brought to Seattle.

"Okay then, since your stuff is in your rooms already I suppose we could go back downstairs and you could explore the playroom, the study and the basement… you haven't seen it yet, but I think you'll really like it. There is a huge TV, some games consoles, a ping pong table and even a pool table, even if I don't think you already play pool…" she rambled.

Both Evan and Samantha laughed "do you know how to play pool aunt Meredith?" asked Emma.

"I'm not that good, but maybe we could give it a go if you like…" she laughed along with them and preceded the group downstairs.

* * *

The following morning, at the end of her twelve hours shift, Meredith felt really tired, but she was getting used to this sensation. She wanted nothing more than to go home and take a nap, but it looked like things would not go according to plan. When she arrived in the lobby, in fact, she came face to face with a woman she didn't think she would ever see again.

"Hi Meredith, I'm glad to have found you… sorry we came unannounced" she whispered quietly.

"It's okay" was her feeble response, she then turned towards the brunette girl standing next to the obviously pregnant woman "hi Laura, how are you? You've really grown since the last time we saw each other"

The girl smiled brightly, showing that she was missing some teeth "hi… I'm doing good, thanks"

"You must be asking yourself what we're doing here" added Molly Grey-Thompson after a poignant pause.

"I suppose you came to visit Thatcher for Christmas"

"Yeah, that is indeed on of the reasons we're here" answered her half-sister, then she went on, while stroking her expanded stomach "Eric has finally finished serving and we've decided to come back to live here, to be close to dad and his parents and… to you and your family as well. After all you and dad are the only family I have left" explained the younger woman. Meredith found herself at a loss of words, but she recovered as quickly as possible and smiled once again at Laura "this is great news Molly" she finally said.

"I hope we can maybe see each other some more now…" she answered timidly "from what I've heard you were an awesome big sister and, I would like to spend time with you…"

"I would like that" answered Meredith, she missed Lexie so much, if she was still here this would not have been awkward at all.

"So anyway, we came here earlier for my doctor's appointment, to tell you this and to wish you a very merry Christmas, I hope you have some days off"

"Thank you very much. Merry Christmas to you as well, I hope you got our card… I'm actually getting off now and I'll be back in the beginning of January, so I consider myself really lucky"

"We did get your card, it was amazing. Hopefully we'll send you one too next year, even if there will be more of us…"

"How far along are you?"

"Six and a half months, with twins… I never even got the chance to tell Lexie she was going to be an aunt again" she rambled on. Meredith gave the younger woman a sad smile, thinking that she didn't have the chance to tell Lexie about her pregnancy either "wow, twins! It must be really exciting for you, huh Laura?" the girl nodded clearly eager about becoming a big sister "I will have a little sister and a little brother" she then explained.

"It must be really exciting" said Meredith smiling at her niece "are you helping mommy and daddy to get ready for their arrival?"

"Yeah, I helped to pick out lots of stuffed animals and toys" she grinned.

"You will have to show them to me next time we see each other, all right?"

The little girl nodded "I pinky promise" she said, before spotting her father and running towards him.

"So, it's everything okay with the babies?" Meredith asked Molly.

"Yeah, everything is fine. Just a scheduled appointment, I'm a little nervous because we'll meet our new doctor today, we had to switch since we moved and the suggested us Dr. Simpson…"

"Dr. Simpson is great" Meredith reassured he right away, since she was being followed by the same specialist "I'm sure you'll like her"

"Okay, I feel calmer now" Molly smiled as they were joined by Eric and Laura.

"Hi Eric, how are you?"

"I'm fine Meredith, thanks…" the man smiled at her holding his daughter.

"So, I'll let you go to your appointment, but… I was thinking, if you don't have anything planned for Boxing Day maybe you could come visit us for dessert, or something… I'm sure Zola would really enjoy seeing Laura again…"

"That would be awesome thanks, we actually don't have anything planned… what do you think Laur?" Molly addressed the girl.

"I'd like that"

"All right then, it's settled… we've got some other relatives visiting for Christmas, but, they say _the more the merrier_, right?" Meredith rambled a bit nervously.

"They do say that" agreed Eric.

"So, here's my card with our home number. We live on Bainbridge island, right in the middle of the woods, once you get off the ferry you'll just need to follow the road that heads east and you'll literally stumble upon our house" she explained "you can call us in case you get lost, bur it won't happen, I assure you" she grinned.

"All right then, we'll see you on the 26th" said Eric, while Molly put the card in her wallet.

"Do we have to bring something?" she asked.

"I'm sure Derek's mom will cook for a troop, there's no need for you to bring anything" she reassured them.

"Mommy makes the best muffins ever" whispered Laura.

"She does?" the girl just nodded, fascinated with this woman she knew so little.

"Well, in that case, if you promise to help mommy and not let her get too tired I'm sure Zola and her cousins will love your muffins" said Meredith smiling brightly at the girl.

"Let's go call the elevator" proposed Eric, starting to walk towards the other side of the lobby "say bye bye aunt Meredith"

"Bye bye aunt Meredith" Laura waved, still in her father's arms.

"Don't worry about the muffins, you don't have to bake them if you don't have time"

"Laura loves helping me bake and she likes to keep her promises, so we'll definitely bring them. Thank you so much for inviting us, see you on the 26th" she smiled and started to walk towards her family.

"See you…" Meredith left the hospital and drove home, feeling somehow content. Lexie would have wanted her to patch things up with Molly, right? She was an amazing little sister and she was more than sure that Molly was a really sweet girl as well. Things were really starting to look up, finally. Derek's hand seemed to be improving, her pregnancy was going well so far, Zola loved her cousins and she adored Lizzie and her family "if only you could see me Lex" she whispered to herself as she embarked on the ferry.

* * *

When she arrived home, after nine thirty, she was surprised to find it really quiet. She put her stuff down and found a note on the counter that said: _Scott and I took the kids to see the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. Lizzie and Derek were still sleeping when we left. See you later, Carolyn._ She put the note back on the counter and opened the fridge looking for some water, when she finished drinking she saw there were still some chocolate chip cookies left in the jar, she grabbed four of them and she went in the master bedroom, ready to collapse on the bed next to her husband.

"Hmmm, you're back"

"I am" she answered munching on a cookie.

"What took you so long?" he asked looking at the clock "I thought you were going to be off at 8:30"

"I was, but someone came to visit me"

"Yeah? Who?"

"Molly and her family…"

"Oh" he said sitting up on the bed "how did it go?"

"Pretty great actually. He's done serving and they'll be moving here to be closer to Thatcher and us as well…"

"That's good" he smiled stealing a bite from her cookie.

"Yeah. She's pregnant with twins, you know… maybe we'll share this together and we'll form a bond…" she rambled insecurity filling her tone.

"I'm sure you will Mere. Lexie loved you and you loved her, there's no reason for you and Molly not to bond" he reassured her, giving her a one armed hug.

"I invited them over for dessert on Boxing Day, do you think your mom and sister will mind?"

"That's great. My mom and sister and the rest of them will love to meet Molly and her family"

She just smiled, continuing eating "I'm hungry all the time" she complained.

"Then eat all the time" he grinned.

"If I do that, I'll balloon up" she whined.

"I don't care, our baby is in there and if the baby's hungry you've got to eat"

"Don't worry, I eat more than plenty" she answered yawning "after I'm done with the cookies I need to take a nap though, I'm always so tired…"

"I'll stay here with you snuggling all day… Scott and mom took the kids downtown so that we and Lizzie can rest"

"I know, your mom is a saint…" she whispered finishing the last cookie. She had taken off her shoes, but was still clad in her dark blue scrubs "I don't have the energy to take these off" she complained getting under the covers.

"They're almost as comfy as pajamas anyway" he said enclosing her in a hug, then he gave her a soft kiss on the lips "I'll wake you up for lunch, all right?"

"Yeah… I want to eat pizza for lunch" she answered sleepily.

"Whatever you and baby want" he grinned kissing her one more time, she kissed him back fiercely and he tasted the sweetness of the cookies on her velvety tongue.

"Sweet dreams" he whispered in her ear, when the kiss ended, leaving them both panting.

"Love you" she whispered back, feeling her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. She felt so well, so comfortable in his arms, that she fell asleep right away, starting to snoring softly. Hu suppressed a chuckle and held her even closer "I love you too" he said after giving her a kiss on the forehead.

**I hope you liked this chapter, I introduced back Molly and her family because Ithink Meredith needs to face them. I'm sad that she didn't do that on the show, I think it would be good for her. Please drop me a line and share your thoughts; I'm going to try and update on Monday or Tuesday if everything goes according to plan. Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it.**


	8. It's the most wonderful time of the year

**AN Thank you so much for the always superkind reviews, they do make my day and I answer to all of them, except for the ones who have their PMs disabled, like merder4evs, I never thought I would get to 50 reviews so quickly, so thank you really. Sorry for the wait, my internet is finally fixed, but my sister just got married and the house has been very hectic and overflown with relatives and friends! Here is the next chapter of this adventure you've embarked upon. I hope you'll enjoy it.**

Derek and Meredith, and Lizzie as well, spent most of Christmas Eve morning in bed, resting. The three of them needed peace and quiet for different reasons and they were more than glad that Carolyn and Scott had decided to take advantage of the sunny, even if brisk, day and had taken the kids out for the day. They were supposed to start prepping for Christmas dinner when Carolyn got back, since they were expecting quite a lot of people at their dinner table. Around 1 pm Lizzie knocked on the master bedroom's door and waited for an answer.

"Come on in" answered her brother's voice.

"Hey guys, how are you? Did you get some sleep Mere?"

"Yeah I did… best nap of my life. I'm always so sleepy lately" as if to prove a point she yawned and both her husband a sister in law smiled at her.

"The first trimester is really tough, but I promise you it does get better… when you'll feel the first kick it will be so amazing, except then they really enjoy the kicking and it kind of gets on your nerves, but then you'll meet her or him and everything will be forgotten and you'll just want to hold the baby in your arms and never let her or him grow and get out of your sight…" she paused and looked at them "am I talking too much?"

"Just a tad" her brother retorted grinning.

"I still cannot believe the twins are in third grade already, they turned eight last September. It seems like yesterday that I called you to tell you that there was two of them…" she mused, lost in thought.

"Why don't you go and make a fifth then?" wondered Meredith.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lizzie smiled "I only wanted three, so four is more than plenty, thank you very much…"

"And besides, she's a bit too old now to start the routine of a newborn once again…" Derek smirked as Meredith hit him playfully on the arm.

"Just so you know, I'm two years younger than you my dear brother" Lizzie answered sitting down on their bed.

"You do know men can have kids in their sixties as well, right?"

"Sometimes you're such a jerk Derek" Meredith muttered grinning.

"Tell me about it, I had to put up with this growing up" was the quick response she got from her sister in law.

"It must have been a pain in the butt…"

"Hey, must I remind you that I'm still in the room? Why are you girls always ganging up on me? It was the same growing up… this baby better be a boy!"

Both women laughed "you're such a crybaby little brother!"

"Didn't you just point out that I'm two years older than you?"

"Yep, but you're also as whiny as a little brother…"

"I really cannot wait to have two kids and see if they'll behave like you two" mused Meredith, caressing her still flat stomach.

"If the baby will be as hardheaded as us Shepherd you can bet on that" Lizzie grinned.

"So, are you going to tell us why you came to bother us or did you come because you were bored?" asked Derek, placing his hand on top of Meredith's one.

"I did have a reason of course, multiple reasons actually…" she bit back as she started to enlist them on her fingers "first of all I wanted to ask if you were hungry, cause I'm in the mood for some chicken soup and I thought maybe you wanted some as well. Second, mom called to say everything is all right, Zola is having the time of her life with her cousins and she told me to say hi to you guys. Third, Amy called as well, there is a slight problem, her boyfriend had to switch shifts with a colleague, they won't be able to make it for Christmas, but they can be here for New year's" she explained.

"New year's is totally fine, you should call Amy back and tell her that" Meredith answered right away smiling.

Liz smiled back "how about lunch?"

"Didn't you say you wanted pizza before?" asked Derek.

"I know I did, but chicken soup sounds awesome" Meredith grinned.

"Cool, I'll go call Amy and then I'll make some soup" said Lizzie getting up.

"I'll come help you" said Derek getting rid of the covers.

"And I'll go shower, I still smell like hospital…"

"You should take a long relaxing bath, enjoy the kids' absence" Lizzie winked at her "Derek and I will take care of lunch and then I'll teach you how to bake muffins"

"Okay, sounds like a great plan" answered Meredith walking toward the en-suite.

* * *

When the kids, Carolyn and Scott got back around four in the afternoon, they all had huge smiles on their faces, however they looked exhausted. Sure enough, they were delighted to find out that Meredith, Derek and Lizzie had backed more cookies, both the chocolate chip and the oatmeal raisins kind, and they had baked dozens of muffins as well. A chorus of hello echoed as the group entered the house.

"Hi guys, how was your day?" asked Lizzie, the three of them were relaxing on the sofa.

"It was great!" exclaimed Evan right away, running towards the kitchen counter to grab a chocolate chip muffin, followed suit by all of his siblings and by a very cheerful Zola.

"Hi baby girl… did you have fun with your cousins, nana and uncle Scott?" asked Meredith handing her daughter a blueberry muffin and a jar of apple sauce she had prepared earlier with Liz as well.

"Yes mama, we went up" she giggled biting the sweet.

"You guys went up the Space Needle?" asked Derek, all kids nodded as they chewed on their snacks.

"It was really awesome, uncle Derek" smiled Samantha.

"The view was really pretty" added Emma.

"We took lots of photos" said Spencer, bending down to grab his dad's camera from his backpack and turning it on. For the next twenty minutes the adults who had stayed at home listened to five excited, chatty children who told them all about going up on the Space Needle, visiting Pike Place Market and having lunch there, seeing the ferries for Canada and the first Starbuck's shop. They had taken lots of pictures, both Meredith and Derek couldn't help but notice how happy Zola looked in all of them and how many great ones there were.

"We'll have to develop some of those, you took some pretty amazing ones" Derek complimented his brother in law when they were done watching them.

"Don't look at me" Scott answered shrugging.

"What do you mean?"

"The camera is mine, but Spencer is the one that took most of them…"

"Yeah, we have a photographer in the making" Carolyn added grinning.

"They're really great Spencer" Meredith praised him, as his mom ruffled his hair.

"Looks like at least one of our kids inherited your artistic spirit, babe" she added looking at her husband.

"Finally!" he grinned.

"Hey, may I remind you that I'm in drama club?!" Samantha sounded a little offended, but she was smiling.

"We remember that sweetie, but I was the one that enjoyed to be part of the drama club both in high school and in college. Your dad was more of an artist in the literal sense of the term, he painted, took photographs and drew a lot…"

"Is that why you decided to become an architect dad?" asked Spencer sounding interested.

"That's right buddy!"

After the kids were done eating, they decided to go lounge in the basement, while the adults got a head start on the Christmas dinner preparations.

"Are you tired, baby?" asked Meredith seeing Zola yawning.

The little girl nodded as Carolyn said "she didn't nap today, because she was too excited… she only rested for a little while on the ferry back home"

"How about you take a little nap now, princess?" asked her dad and the girl nodded again, as her cousins waved to her.

"See you later Zozo" they chorused, she waved back at them from the comfort of her father's arms and disappeared behind the door that led to her bedroom. They laid her down in her oak crib and the little girl snuggled up to her lion right away, Derek covered her with the striped purple and turquoise comforter.

"Sweet dreams baby girl" whispered Meredith kissing her on the forehead.

"Sleep tight princess" added Derek kissing her as well.

Zola sighed content as she mumbled a sleepy "gnight" to them.

"Looks like we're going to shop for a big girl bed soon" Meredith added as the two of them stared at the girl sleeping.

"I know… we'll keep this one for her little sister or brother"

"She's grown so much…"

"Yeah, she has. I cannot believe she'll be two in less than two months…"

"We'll need to organize an amazing birthday party for her!"

"Definitely. We'll also need to get her a new bed and restyle her room… or maybe we should just use this one as the nursery for peanut…" Derek looked at his wife.

"Peanut?"

"Don't you like it?"

"I think it's adorable… peanut, I like it very much… I'm just thinking that Zola might be confused if we call the baby peanut…"

"So what? I call her princess…"

"And you also treat her like a princess" Meredith reminded him smiling.

"I can try and come up with some other cute nickname for the baby… I just really like peanut"

"Don't, I love it… it's perfect!"

He grinned at her as they left Zola's room and went into the kitchen where Carolyn, Liz and Scott had already started the Christmas feast preparations.

* * *

An hour and a half later the kitchen was starting to smell exactly like Christmas at the Shepherd household. Two pumpkin pies were cooking in the oven and two apple pies were being prepared to be put in the oven as well. Scott and Derek were busy making gingerbread cookies, some of which were going to be put on the fireplace by the younger kids for Santa to eat. Carolyn and the girls were roasting a chicken for dinner, it was going to be served with a cheese vegetables casserole. The kids were still relaxing in the basement when happy babbling was heard coming from Zola's room.

"Derek, she's awake… can you go get her?"

"If it's all right with you, I'll go…" proposed Carolyn.

"Sure, I'll be there in a minute…" answered Meredith who was finishing pealing the potatoes for the casserole. When she entered her daughter's room she found them busy chatting on the rocking chair "I is unger nana" she was saying.

"Hi baby, did you have a nice nap?" she asked kneeling down to look her in the eyes.

Zola nodded and stifled a yawn "'day was fun" she added mindlessly.

"I'm very happy baby girl" she grinned as she hugged her "Carolyn do you mind getting a t-shirt from the third drawer in the dresser over there?" she added seeing that the one she was wearing was damp since the little girl had sweated a lot during her nap "were you too warm in the bed baby?" Zola nodded and Meredith noticed that under her bright green shirt she was wearing a wool undershirt "mommy forgot to take off your undershirt baby, sorry about that… we'll get changed right away" she grinned and turned around to check if Carolyn had found a t-shirt yet. She came face to face with a very shocked woman, who was holding a pink shirt that recited _World's best big sister_.

"Crap" Meredith muttered in a low voice "we didn't want you to find out this way…"

"Is Zola going to be a big sister?" Carolyn asked softly looking at her daughter in law.

Meredith nodded slowly, a smile creeping up on her face "I'm at the end of my first trimester and since we've had so many difficulties conceiving, we wanted to wait until I was in my second trimester to tell…"

"You don't have to justify yourself dear" Carolyn reassured her smiling.

"We did want to tell you, we were just waiting for the right time… and I was afraid, I still am a little afraid, to lose this baby…" she murmured in a low tone. Carolyn closed the distance that separated them and she enveloped Meredith and Zola in a bear hug, a hug she had given many times during her life, with five kids and Mark hanging out at the house.

"Everything will be okay" she said in a low, but convincing tone; Meredith sniffled softly, benefiting from the hug. That's how Derek found them when he entered the room, seconds later, the three most important women in his life were entwined in a hug and he felt his heart swell with love.

"Are you guys all right?" he asked after a small pause.

His mother nodded as Meredith kept on sniffing and Zola giggled loudly "dada!"

"Mere? Are you hurting?" his voice was filled with concern.

"No… I'm fine Der" she mumbled.

"Then what's going on? I'm getting a little worried here…"

"I found this" his mother answered pushing the pink t-shirt in her son's waiting hands.

He was speechless for a little while and then he smiled slowly "so you know you'll be a grandmother again then…"

"Yeah and I couldn't be happier about it" she smiled back "Meredith was just explaining to me why you guys didn't tell me before and I was reassuring her that everything will be all right"

Suddenly Derek understood the tears and the whispering, Meredith was still afraid of losing the baby, he was sure she would be less preoccupied by the time she would have hit the second trimester and he was hoping these last ten days would pass as fast as possible. The festive atmosphere and the wish to have Zola spend the best Christmas possible were keeping Meredith occupied and he hoped she would finally feel better after New Year's eve, when the first critical months of the pregnancy would have been over.

"Here, I'll change her" said Carolyn taking Zola in her arms and letting Derek envelope Meredith in his strong grip.

"I'm sorry Carolyn, it must be all the hormones…" she sniffled, her eyes puffy and her nose red.

"Don't worry dear, I know the deal… I did give birth to five kids and I've seen three of my girls during pregnancies, men simply cannot understand us" she smiled as she was putting a dark blue t-shirt with a penguin on a smiling Zola.

"This baby better be a boy" muttered Derek, much like ha had done during the morning talk with Liz.

"Your sister is right, you know? You seriously are a big crybaby" Meredith finally smiled at her husband, all insecurities forgotten.

"But you love me anyway" he retorted smiling back.

"It's all because of the hair" she joked.

"Take it back!" he said feigning offence.

"I will not!" she bit back laughing at him.

"See Ma, this is exactly why this baby needs to be a boy… I need to have a guy beside me, girls have been ganging up on me for all my life"

"Your daddy is a bit of a drama queen" Carolyn confided to Zola in a whisper, loud enough for Derek and Meredith to hear. He laughed out loud and went to take his little girl from his mother's arms "I'll love this baby no matter what of course and I'll be the happiest men alive even if we only had girls… I'll just spoil them rotten" he shrugged tickling Zola.

"That's what you're already doing with your daughter" Meredith reminded him kissing the girl on the cheek.

"I think that's what you're supposed to do…"

"You're wrong son, spoiling the kids is the duty of a grandmother and I plan to do so with this adorable girl and all her future sibling" Carolyn answered giving a one armed hug to Meredith.

"Thank you… for everything" she said gratefully.

"Don't even mention it… you're family and I'm happy to give you a hand if I can. Besides you, this girl and this baby are the reason my son is so happy… I'm just glad to be included in this happiness"

"I hope I won't screw up, my mother didn't really set up a great example for me to follow"

"But you're nothing like your mother" Derek stepped in, still twirling Zola in his arms.

"Derek is right dear, I haven't met your mother, but from what I've seen in these past few days you're the best mother a little girl could ask for and Zola loves the both of you dearly. You guys are doing a great job, even with the long crazy hours you work"

Finally reassure Meredith smiled genuinely and the four of them left the room, Meredith took Zola in the basement where she played with her cousins waiting for dinner. After they were done eating dinner, Meredith did the dishes, Scott went to supervise his kids taking showers, Derek gave Zola a bath, while Carolyn and Liz prepared the cranberry sauce for the turkey.

* * *

Derek and Meredith's peaceful sleep was interrupted by happy giggles coming from the living room on Christmas morning.

"I think we should get up" Meredith murmured after a while.

"Let's enjoy the bed for a little longer… you do know that we'll have to get up at the crack of down for many, many Christmases, right?"

"Yeah… but I don't want to miss our baby's face when she opens her presents"

"Neither do I" he answered right away, then he gave her a quick kiss on the lips "Merry Christmas, Mere"

"Merry Christmas to you as well" she kissed him once more fully on the mouth, her tongue exploring every inch of his warm cave, he suffocated a moan escaping his lips and she grinned as she kicked back their navy blue comforter. They tiptoed in the living room and found the kids munching on cookies and looking at the presents underneath the tree. There was no trace of discarded wrapping paper, which meant that they hadn't started tearing open all the presents yet. They just looked at their happy smiles for a while, before Spencer spotted them "auntie Meredith! Uncle Derek, look!"

"Santa com" Zola shrieked excitedly pointing at the numerous brightly colored boxes underneath the tree.

"He did, huh?" Derek grinned.

"Did he like the gingerbread cookies we left him?" asked Meredith.

"Yeah, he ate them all" Emma pointed matter-of-factly to the empty plate on the fireplace, next to an empty glass of milk.

"Can we open the presents Santa brought now?" asked Evan going along with the younger kids' belief.

"You know we have to wait for mom and dad to get up" Samantha reminded him.

"Go wake them up Spence" Evan prompted his younger brother.

"Don't worry Evan, I've already checked, they're awake and they'll be out in a minute" said Carolyn emerging from the guest room where Liz and Scott were sleeping.

"Who wants to help me start breakfast?" proposed Derek.

All the kids ran towards the kitchen counter with him "what are we making uncle Derek?" asked Emma.

"Pancakes, French toast, eggs, bacon and toast… that all right with you?"

"Yeah!" they exclaimed.

Meredith and Carolyn smiled looking at them "Merry Christmas dear" said the older woman.

"Merry Christmas to you as well…"

"Ready for a crazy Shepherd Christmas?"

"As ready as I'll ever be" she grinned and looked at her husband telling Emma how to stir the pancakes batter and helping Spencer clean the blueberries, while the older kids were making toasts and Zola was eating a cookie. Everything was going to be great, Meredith was sure of that as she rested her hand on her flat stomach.

**So Christmas is finally here, the celebration has already started and it will be in full swing in the next chapter. Carolyn found out about McBaby and Meredith confided in her. I'll post the next chapter during this week, in order to apologize for the delay of this one. I hope you liked it anyway! Drop me a line and share your thoughts please. **


	9. A very Shepherd Christmas

**AN: Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews and for all the people who added the story to their alerts and their favorites, as usual I wanted to answer to all the reviews, but I couldn't answer to twilightbella cause the PM feature is turned off. Anyway, here is the Christmas chapter of the story, finally, I must say, sorry for the delay I had to finish my final dissertation as I'm graduating in a week… hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

Breakfast was in full swing when Meredith stopped for a second to just savor the moment. The ten of them were all sitting around the kitchen counter, clad in festive pajamas, having a breakfast feast consisting of pancakes, toasts, eggs and bacon, holiday cookies, orange juice, milk and coffee.

"Is everything all right Mere?" Derek turned to look at his wife in the eyes, his over easy eggs and the rest of breakfast forgotten, happiness shining brightly in his blue eyes.

"Nothing, just thinking…"

"About what?"

"About how cheerful our little girl looks… I'm just glad your family is here with us to celebrate, I never had this growing up, but I'm thrilled that she and baby will" she whispered, eyes shining with unshed happy tears.

"I'm happy you decided to invite them as well. I haven't had a family Christmas in a very long time and I've missed this" he confided.

"Good… let's promise, from now on, to have a family Christmas every year, for the rest of our lives" she smiled, staring at him, her green eyes wide. He smiled back and closed the distance separating them, their lips touched and she immediately responded to him, grabbing him by the lapels of his pajama top, opening her mouth to accommodate him. He tasted the sweetness of maple syrup merged with brown sugar and blueberry pancakes on her tongue moaning soundly in her mouth. They smiled to each other, losing themselves in the kiss and, when oxygen became a necessity, they parted and stood still, smiling fiercely, foreheads touching, hearts pounding, eyes shining.

"May I remind you that there's a room full of minors?" Liz cut in grinning.

"Shut it sis, we're having a moment here…"

"Do share with us then" Carolyn prompted the couple smiling as well.

"I was just telling Derek how glad I am to have invited you…"

"She must be under some kind of influence, or maybe she caught a bug at work" Derek muttered "I don't know why else she'd be happy to have Liz over" he smirked.

"Very funny bro!" she started to retort, but her mother interrupted her "We're delighted to be here with you guys as well and I'm overjoyed to be able to enjoy Zola's first proper Christmas with you" she said taking her granddaughter in her arms and giving her a big hug that the little girl reciprocated right away "'wuv iu nana" she added, making everybody swoon.

"I'd like to propose a toast, even though we're all drinking coffee or milk… a toast to family. I didn't have the luck to grow up in a loving environment, my friends and Derek became my family once I moved here and now you've become my family and Zola's family as well. They say that a poor man can be considered rich if he has family, so… here's to us and to our family and to the many more family events we'll enjoy together" said Meredith beaming.

They all clinked their mugs with one another and smiled as the kids replicated their gesture with orange juice.

* * *

The guests started to arrive a little after 1 p.m., since they had organized a late lunch who would later turn into a light dinner as well. The firsts to arrive were Alex, Cristina and Owen; she was carrying a bag full of presents, Alex was holding three bottles of wine and Owen an enormous cheesecake.

"Merry Christmas guys!" Derek exclaimed opening the door, he looked festive wearing a crisp white shirt underneath a red sweater and navy blue pants.

"Merry Christmas" the three of them answered smiling and getting inside.

"Come on in…" he closed the door and led them to the kitchen where they put the things they had brought along.

"Let me take your coats" Derek went on, proceeding to take them to the threshold's closet.

"Where is everybody?" asked Owen, looking at the tables already set in the dining room area. They were a triumph of red, green and gold, with some white and silver mixed in; two beautiful butcher's broom centerpieces adorned with a red candle each and lots of golden flecks stood in the middle of the two tables.

"They're changing" was Derek's short answer "can I offer you anything to drink?"

"I thought you'd never ask" said Cristina plopping herself down on a stool "it looks like Santa threw up in here!" she added smirking at Derek.

"Is red wine okay?" he asked ignoring her sneer.

"Don't you have a beer?"

"Don't be a pain Alex! Red wine is fine…" Cristina retorted right away.

"Nah, it's fine… Mere's got beer especially for you" Derek reassured Alex grabbing a beer from the refrigerator and handing it to the younger guy, he then went on to open a bottle of California Merlot and poured three glasses, offering two of them to Cristina and Owen.

"Your wife knows me too well" said Alex after he had taken a swig of his beer. As he settled the bottle down to take a look around the festive atmosphere surrounding him he heard a voice shouting his name, the voice belonged to one of his favorite people in the whole world. "Unca Ales!" Zola ran out of her room, after she had spotted Alex and launched himself in his arms. She was wearing a plaid green and red dress, topped with a bright red cache coeur, green tights and red ballet flat, she also had a matching plaid hairband with a bow.

"Don't you look amazing princess!" exclaimed Derek grinning.

"Fanks dada" she grinned back, still grasping Alex's shoulders.

"Merry Christmas Zozo" said Alex, hugging her fiercely.

"Mery 'mas unca Ales" she answered kissing him on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas Miss Zola" added Owen, giving her a kiss on the cheek as well.

"Mery 'mas unca Wen"

"Merry Christmas little one" said Cristina getting close to them and taking the little girl in her arms in order to give her a big hug.

"Mery 'mas ant Tina" she said giving Cristina a wet, sloppy kiss.

"Guess what?" her godmother went on.

"Wat?"

"Santa left some presents for you and your cousins and even your parents at our house…"

"Yeah, silly Santa" added Alex poking the little girl in the stomach, making her giggle loudly; Derek was snapping pictures madly and failed to notice Meredith coming out of Zola's room as well. She was wearing a forest green halter neck dress, the bodice clinging to her slender frame perfectly, a green belt made of the same silk from the dress rested on her waistline, while the skirt was ample and fluttering, almost impalpable; to top it off she was wearing a red shawl that matched her flats and dark green tights.

"Wow Mere, you look amazing" whispered Alex staring at his friend.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself either!" she exclaimed winking.

"iu pwety mama" added Zola grinning.

"Thank you baby, you look really pretty as well"

"Did you lose your tongue Shepherd?" asked Owen seeing that Derek was indeed speechless.

His friend's voice snapped him out of his reverie, he put the camera down on the counter, closed the distance separating him from Meredith and gave her soft kiss a long hug "you look amazing Mere, this dress is perfect, where did you get it? And, most importantly, when do I get to take it off?" he whispered huskily.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out" she chanted in a sing-song voice; he pouted and kissed her once more, before insisting to take some more pictures in front of the fireplace. They took pictures just the three of them, but also all together, pictures of Zola alone and of their little girl with Alex, Cristina and Owen. When Carolyn, Liz and the rest of the family came out they took even more pictures until Zola finally confessed "I ungry dada, no mor ptures"

Everybody laughed at her cuteness and Derek surrendered, putting the camera down "I'm sorry princess, but we'll have to wait for another while to eat. Arizona, Callie and Sofia aren't here yet and Richard, Bailey, Ben and Tuck are coming as well and Jackson and April should come here in the afternoon …"

"But we do have presents for you to open" Cristina reminded her, Zola gave a shriek of happiness and went to sit down on the carpet in front of the tree taking Emma, Spencer, Samantha and Evan with them.

Minutes after, as Zola and he cousins were opening presents and Derek was once again snapping thousands of pictures, Alex's phone ringed. He glanced at the screen not recognizing the number "hello?" he asked unsure.

"Alex? It's me… Amber" the voice on the other side of the line was even less sure.

"Hi Amber… Merry Christmas" he quickly recovered from the shock of hearing his sister's voice.

"Merry Christmas to you as well Alex… I got your card and your presents and… you didn't have to, but thank you"

"Of course I had to, you're my baby sister! So where are you celebrating?

"I'm at a friend's house in Des Moines, I'm staying here until New Year's day"

"That's good, I'm glad you have somebody to spend the day with… next year we should actually be together, it has been too long" he said and, after a small pause, he went on "how is college going?"

"Good, really well actually… this is the other reason why I wanted to call actually" she answered a little hesitant.

"What is it Amber? Do you have any problems with your scholarship at school?"

"No, don't worry I don't. It's just that I've been accepted to the University of Washington in Seattle…"

"This is great news Amber, when are you coming?"

"At the beginning of January, I'll do my last semester of pre-med there, then I'll start med school in the fall"

"That's amazing little sister, I'm so proud of you" he grinned widely.

"Thanks…" she mumbled and then she went on "do you happen to know a place where me and my friend Riley could stay until September? We'll only have housing at the university in the fall…"

"You can definitely stay at my house, there's a lot of free space… that is if you don't mind of course"

"I wouldn't mind at all, would you?" she sounded concerned.

"Of course not, I do have a crazy roommate though, be prepared" he smiled, relieved that his sister was coming to live with him even if just for a little while.

"That's okay, it can't be worse than college kids" she reassured her big brother.

"So, when exactly are you planning on getting here?"

"Riley and I will leave her parents' house on January 1st and we'll drive up to Seattle… it's almost 1800 miles and I think it will take us five, maybe six days. We were planning to stop in Yellowstone for a couple of nights maybe…"

"That's cool, is this your cell phone number?"

"Yup" she answered quickly.

"All right then, we'll be in contact by phone and, once you get to Seattle, you can come at the hospital where I work and I'll take you guys home. Sounds like a plan?"

"Sounds perfect" he could hear the satisfaction in her voice.

"I'm really happy about this Amber… I missed you in these last years" he confessed.

"So did I…"

"I'll see you soon"

"Yeah… enjoy your Christmas Alex"

"You too sis… bye"

"Goodbye…"

After they had hung up he stared at the cell phone screen for a while, lost in thought, he recovered when Meredith came next to him "everything all right?"

"Yeah, it was Amber…"

"Amber… your sister Amber?"

"Yes…"

"Care to elaborate? Or am I going to have to pull out every single word from you?"

"She wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas, thanking me for her presents…"

"What did you get her?" she inquired sitting on the stool next to him.

"I got her gift cards for Sephora and Abercrombie, I had no clue about what to get to a 20 year old" he answered already defending himself.

"You could have asked" she winked at him.

"Next time…"

"There will be a next time?" she questioned.

"Yeah, she's been accepted by the University of Washington and she'll be here in early January"

"That's great!"

"It is. She'll finish pre-med here and start med school in the fall… she's always been crazy smart, she is finishing pre-med in three years instead of four"

"Must take after her brother!" she beamed and he smiled at her, genuinely happy "family is really good Alex" she reassured him.

"I know, I've learned that here. I didn't have it growing up, but I plan to do my best to help my little sister…"

"You can always count on me"

"I know Mere, same goes for you… all right?"

"You're the brother I never had" she confided.

"And you're like a sister to me, I don't even know where I would be if it hadn't been for you"

"Don't even mention it…"

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Callie, Arizona, Sofia, Richard, Miranda, Ben and Tucker.

"We it nao dada?" asked Zola innocently when the seven of them had settled inside the house.

"Yes princess, now we can definitely eat! Go pick a place at the kids' table"

"Sof I sit wif iu" she said grabbing her friend by the hand and introducing her to her cousins.

* * *

Later in the day, after the turkey had been eaten, the kids were playing in the play room and the adults were enjoying small talk. The sudden ring of the doorbell had Derek getting up to welcome the latest guests "Hey Jackson, April… we're glad you made it" he grinned letting them in; they were both soaked since it had been raining heavily all day.

"We escaped the hospital as soon as we could" said April, placing a bag full of gifts on the floor.

"It was crazy, like all holidays are" added Jackson, giving Derek a box full of cupcakes in order to take off his coat.

"You can get warmed up now" Derek assured them, pointing towards the roaring fire.

"You didn't have to bring anything" added Meredith coming to great them.

"Well, presents are a must" April replied matter-of-factly, hugging Meredith and wishing her Merry Christmas.

"And I happen to know that these are Zola and Sofia's favorite cupcakes, I'm sure the other kids will enjoy them as well" added Jackson grinning.

"Zola's mom is very fond of these cupcakes as well" Meredith gave a hug to Jackson as Derek placed the box on the counter.

"Merry Christmas everybody" the newly arrived greeted the guests sitting at the table in the dining room; a series of wishes, hugs and kisses were exchanged, along with the introduction of April and Jackson to the members of the Shepherd family they didn't know yet.

"Have you guys had lunch?" asked Carolyn worried like any mother would be.

"We actually haven't had time"

"Then let me warm up some turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans for you, how does that sound?"

"Heavenly" they both answered frankly as they sat down.

While the older woman proceeded to heat up some food for April and Jackson they started to tell the strangest tales of Christmas at the hospital.

"This one guy managed to get burns all over his upper body because he had connected too many festive lights to one socket; yesterday night the lights were not functioning properly, he went to check out why and ended up in the ER" Jackson was explaining this when Carolyn got back in the kitchen with two steamy plates.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Shepherd" April said right away.

"Yeah, thanks a lot" added Jackson, his mouth already watering from the smell that had hit his nostrils.

"Here is some homemade bread" added Meredith passing them the sunflower seed bread she had made with Carolyn, Liz and the kids.

"Do you care for some wine?" asked Derek.

They both nodded, their mouths full "yes please" said Jackson, who managed to swallow first.

"Is red all right?"

"Perfect" answered April, before turning to Carolyn "everything is delicious" she complimented.

"It really is Mrs. Shepherd" added Jackson "reminds me of Christmas at my grandparents' growing up" he smiled fondly.

"I'm glad to hear that, but I was helped a lot, so you should compliment the hosts and Liz and Scott as well"

"This bread is amazing Meredith" Jackson managed to say before putting another piece of it in his mouth.

"We followed a special recipe, it's been in the Shepherd family for quite some time" confided Liz.

"My mom always used to make bread as well when I was growing up" whispered April.

"Am I seriously the only one who didn't have a loving mother who baked and cooked and read bedtime stories?" snorted Meredith, grinning nevertheless.

"Don't forget me" Alex piped in, taking a sip from the red wine he had been drinking with lunch.

"And me" added Cristina "my mom loved her manicure too much to bake… I did have a wonderful nanny who did though"

"My mom never baked either" threw in Jackson "my grandma did though and she taught me and my siblings"

"I baked with my grandma as well" reminisced Miranda smiling.

"So did I" said Callie grinning "Christmas was always very special in the Torres household"

"It was very characteristic at the Robbins residence as well, but the only tradition we had was to spend it together, every year" Arizona had a sad smile gracing her features "it was never the same after Tim died" she mumbled.

"It was the same for us" said Liz "after dad died it was hard for a couple of years, wasn't it?" she turned to her brother who merely nodded "Christmas was his favorite holiday"

"We shouldn't dwell on sad thoughts today, it is a joyous day after all" Richard's voice woke everybody from their reminiscing.

"You're absolutely right!" exclaimed Owen.

* * *

Later, after Jackson and April had finished their second helpings of turkey and the table had been rid from the remains of lunch, the adults were chatting some more, when Tuck came into the dining room "is it dessert time yet? We really want to try all the cakes!"

Meredith grinned and got up "yeah Tuck, go call all of them, we'll get the cakes ready"

Seven excited pairs of feet could be heard running as Meredith and Cristina were putting the plates and forks for dessert on the table, Owen was opening a magnum bottle of champagne, Jackson was retrieving the cupcakes and Callie, Liz and Arizona were helping Carolyn bringing the cakes on the table.

"There you guys are! We were going to eat dessert all by ourselves" joked Scott ruffling Spencer's hair; they were all out of breath, their cheeks glowing pink, hair messy, smiling brightly.

"I beat Evan at tennis on the Wii dad!" Spencer cried out excitedly.

"Great job, buddy!" Liz complimented her youngest son.

"I still want a rematch baby brother" Evan winked at him sitting down.

"We'll see about that…" the other retorted retrieving the digital camera he had gotten as a Christmas present.

" 'Pens tax pturs like dada" Zola pointed out the obvious, settling down next to Sofia who giggled along with her.

"Yeah miss Zola, we have a photographer in the making" Liz confided.

"Tak a ptur of me an' Zo" asked Sofia politely, looking at Spencer, who happily obliged.

"Okay guys, who wants pumpkin pie?" asked Arizona. Several hands shoot up and she started to give out slices.

"How about apple pie?" asked Callie proceeding to give out slices as well.

Carolyn came over with the cheesecake Owen had brought, while Liz brought over the festive cookies and Jackson went to show Zola and Sofia the cupcakes he had gotten.

"An elf might have told me you guys love these cupcakes" he whispered in a conspiratorial tone to the two little girls.

They both shrieked in happiness and reached for a vanilla cupcake covered with a hot pink raspberry frosting, grinning wildly.

"Fanks unca Jax" said Zola giving him a wet kiss.

"Ya fanks iu" added Sofia kissing him as well.

"You're very welcome girls" he grinned and turned to the other kids "how about you guys? There is vanilla with raspberry frosting, chocolate with peanut butter frosting, red velvet, mocha with espresso frosting and pumpkin with cream cheese frosting" he explained.

They each reached for a cupcake and said their thank yous "if you want some more, just ask" he winked and went back to sit down.

After the desserts had been eaten, the kids noticed that it had stopped raining and it wasn't dark yet.

"Can we go play outside for a little while?" asked Evan eager to try out the new football and basketball he had received.

"It's probably really muddy guys" Scott sounded apologetic.

"What if we change?" proposed Sam.

"You still won't be able to play football and I'm afraid uncle Derek doesn't have a hoop for you to use" answered Liz.

"How about this... you go change and we'll go exploring a bit, how does it sound?" said Alex.

They all nodded excitedly and the older kids ran up to put on something more casual "don't forget to put on wellingtons!" Liz reminded them.

"Tuck can borrow something from Spencer if he doesn't have anything" said Carolyn smiling at the quiet boy.

"Can I mama?" he asked.

"Of course" Miranda agreed "we'll ask him when he comes back down, I'm glad you have your boots though"

"Here Zozo let's go change and lend something to Sofia as well…" said Meredith getting up followed by Arizona.

Ten minutes later the kids were all changed in jeans and sweatshirts, they had on raincoats and boots and they were expecting Alex and Jackson who were going to accompany them.

"Don't go too far" Derek advised the two men as he handed them some flashlights.

"And please carry the little ones if they get too tired" added Callie.

"We will, don't worry… we'll be back in a little while, I think it's going to be dark soon" Jackson reassured them, putting three flashlights in his pocket.

"Have fun guys!"

"We will!"

* * *

At the end of dinner all kids were pretty much exhausted and they had decided to go watch a movie in the basement, the adults were sipping coffees and teas and just enjoying the quiet.

"This was one of the best Christmases ever" said Carolyn smiling.

"Indeed it was" Owen agreed right away.

"I'm glad you've all been a part of it" added Meredith sipping her herbal tea.

"Yeah it has been perfect…" Derek agreed and then he whispered in her ear "do you still want to wait to tell them?"

She shook her head "maybe we could tell them" she whispered back.

"What's with the secrecy?" asked Cristina.

They both grinned at her and put their mugs down "Meredith and I have something to tell you…"

"I'm pregnant. Zola will be a big sister"

A confused chorus of congratulations exploded, followed by people getting up to go hug them.

"This is so great Mere" whispered Cristina hugging her.

"I thought you didn't hug…" she retorted.

"Ah well, you made me weaker, what can I say!"

"Congratulations McDreamy" she added hugging Derek as well.

"You deserve it guys" added Alex hugging them both.

"You even get to be godfather this time!" Meredith winked at him.

"For real?"

"Yeah, we wanted to wait to ask you, but… that's the plan, if you want of course"

"Are you kidding? I'd be honored" he hugged her once more.

"I think this calls for another toast" said Richard.

"Yeah, let's open some more champagne" added Owen and ho got up to do so.

If anybody had been looking through the window that Christmas night he would have only been able to see pure joy shared by the people celebrating over there. Yes, they had had a tough year and lost some of their own, but they were going to come through stronger than before.

**So this was my longest chapter yet, I thought you deserved it though, since you had to wait for so long. I hope you liked it, it's pretty hard to write dialogues having so many people around, but I hope I did an okay job, drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. Also, Alex is reuniting with his sister, it will be a key for his character development as well. And Meredith and Derek shared their news because it's Christmas and they're celebrating and Meredith is not afraid of losing the baby anymore. Stay tuned for Boxing Day with the Thompsons and the rest of the holidays. **


	10. Can you feel this magic in the air?

**AN: Thank you as usual for the nice reviews, they do make my day, it's nice to see you're enjoying what I'm writing. So without further ado, here is the latest chapter.**

Christmas day was coming to an end and Meredith found herself getting melancholy at the thought. They had shared an amazing day with their family and friends and Zola had had a blast, playing with her cousins, Sofia and Tuck. All the guests had left, some of them were coming back the following day to eat leftovers and meet Meredith's half sister and her family. The kids were already in bed, all of them exhausted after a fun day together. The dishwasher had been loaded three times already, the tables had been cleared and the floor had been vacuumed. Carolyn, Derek, Liz and Scott were all enjoying one last warm cup of coffee sprinkled with cinnamon, while she was drinking her favorite beloved vanilla tea.

"It was a great Christmas" Scott said after a while.

They all nodded pensively "it was" agreed Carolyn setting her mug down, leaning into Derek's side to give him a one-armed hug.

"It was the best Christmas ever" threw in Meredith smiling "I don't remember having this much fun since I was five…" she added stifling a yawn.

"Tired?" asked Derek; she only nodded covering yet another yawn "I was always tired in the first months of my pregnancies" Liz piped in.

"So I noticed"

"Want to go to bed?" asked Derek setting his mug on the coffee table next to his mother's one.

"Yeah" she agreed finishing her tea as well.

"Go ahead, I'll put these in the sink" Carolyn reassured them.

"Thanks" Meredith smiled gratefully as she accepted a hug from her mother in law.

"Goodnight guys" said Scott getting up with his and Liz's empty mugs.

"Night" they both answered as they disappeared behind their bedroom door.

* * *

Once they were in their bedroom, Derek took a moment to just look at his beautiful wife as she was changing out of her stylish dress and into comfortable pajamas for the night.

"I think Zola had an awesome time" he finally said coming out from his reverie.

"Definitely! Did you see how big her smile was even when she was exhausted as we put her to bed?!" she grinned at him getting inside the en-suite to brush her teeth.

He took off his shirt and followed her into the bathroom to brush his teeth as well; after they were done they went back in the room and got under the covers.

"Did you have fun today?" she asked snuggling into him.

"Mmmh... it was really good, how about you?"

"It was perfect, the best Christmas in a very long time" she assured him.

"I agree... I only wish Lexie and Mark were here"

"Yeah, I do too" she whispered "they would have enjoyed themselves so much... I like to think they are at least together now, wherever they are"

"I like to think that too and I'm also sure that they're watching over us, along with my dad and your mom..."

"I'm not so sure about my mom" she stated quietly and she added "I know you don't like to all about your father's death, but I feel like I don't know much about him and how he was"

"He was the best dad ever" he quickly answered, then he paused briefly "he knew that it was hard to be the only boy in the family for me so every year for my birthday he would organize an _all men weekend_, at first just the two of us and then with Mark as well" he reminisced.

"And what would you do in those _all men weekends_?"

"We'll, we usually went camping somewhere on Friday and spent all Saturday and Sunday morning fishing and exploring and then we ended the weekend with a basketball game at Madison Square Garden"

"Wow! Sounds like fun... I, of course, never had that growing up" she wrinkled her nose scratching it.

"We could start a tradition with our kids though" she added looking straight into his eyes.

"I'd like that" he smiled feeling his heart swell with the love he had for her "I already see you having SPA weekends with Zola in like fifteen years" he went on.

"You do, huh?" she grinned "I hope this baby is a boy so you can start having _all men weekends_ with him" she said sincerely.

"You know I'll be thrilled either way" he reassured her "if the baby is a girl I'll have another princess to spoil rotten like I'm doing with our Zozo"

"I have no doubt about that" she retorted right away.

"Are you saying I spoil her too much?"

"Nope, you spoil her just enough!" she giggled.

"Are you mocking me?" he shot back half indignantly and half laughing.

"Maybe" she conceded laughing as well.

"You shall be punished for this" he threatened her grinning as he started tickling her mercilessly.

She shrieked with laughter, trying in vain to stop him with her tiny ineffectual fists "Stop, please!" she managed to mutter in between bouts of uncontrollable hearty laughter.

He finally decided to stop and found himself looking in her green eyes, bright because of all the laughing, her cheeks were rosy and her pink lips were too inviting to resist, so he kissed her. He kissed her like that time in the elevator, when she accused him of sexually harassing her. He kissed her like a teenager would kiss his first love, thinking it will never be over. He kissed her like there was no tomorrow and he would like nothing else better than dying with his lips pressed to hers. He kissed her hard and long, just like she liked it. And she kissed him back. Smiling into the kiss. Moaning loudly into his mouth. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, pulling it. When oxygen became a necessity he stopped the kiss abruptly, giving her one last peck on the lips. And he found himself staring into the clear pools of her green eyes. She was panting as she grinned at him.

"I love you so much" she confessed when she was finally able to catch her breath.

"I love you just as much" he answered right away giving her a long hug, letting his nostrils fill up with her comforting lavender scent.

"Thank you again for doing this" he added, he was talking about Christmas and she knew that, so she just nodded as she hugged him back.

"How is your arm by the way? I forgot to ask today... does that make me a bad wife?"

"No it doesn't, you could never be a bad wife" he reassured her right away "and the arm is fine"

"Fine, fine or Meredith fine?" She pressed and he burst out laughing.

"It's not too bad" he said after he was done.

"On a scale from 1 to 10?" she asked.

"I'd say a 5... no actually a 4"

"Are you serious? That's good news" she grinned.

"I know, it really is" he murmured before closing the distance separating them with one more kiss. This time it was slow and passionate. She let him enter her mouth and he caressed her with the slow movements of his tongue. He turned them around allowing her to be on top of him, in order for his bandaged arm to rest on the mattress. He used his good hand to caress the small of her back, making her shiver, goose bumps forming on every inch of her skin.

"Take me for a ride, Derek" she moaned into his ear as he was kissing her neck. He just grumbled incoherently in response as she took off both of their pajama tops.

* * *

The following morning Carolyn was up a little after sunrise. The older woman loved the early hours of the day. She liked to start her day with a cup of strong, black coffee and the morning paper. She had been reading on the sofa for a little while when she heard the shuffling of little feet on the stairs. She turned around and she came face to face with Emma and Samantha.

"Hi girls, what are you doing up so early?" she asked a little taken aback.

"We went to bed early nana" Sam answered matter-of-factly, plopping herself down on the sofa next to Carolyn.

"Yeah, we're not sleepy anymore" added Emma sitting next to her sister.

"All right then" Carolyn took a look at the time and she saw that it was almost half past seven.

"Do you guys want to help me with breakfast?" she proposed. They both grinned and jumped off from the sofa eager to cook with their nana "Yeah!"

"All right... what shall we make?" she asked.

"Pancakes!" "French toast!" they exclaimed both in unison.

"How about we make both? Let's go check if we've got everything we need" the three of them all went to the kitchen and started to look for ingredients and utensils. After they had found everything, they set to work and Carolyn had to admit that the girls were a great help.

"Nice job with the pancakes batter, Sam! Keep mixing the eggs like that Ems!" she praised them both.

"Thanks nana, I'm mixing it like uncle Derek explained us yesterday" answered Sam who had helped with the Christmas breakfast with Emma as well.

A little while later, as they were getting ready to turn on the stove, Emma heard some babbling come from Zola's room.

"I think Zola is up, nana" the girl put her wooden spoon down and she rushed to her little cousin's room, her sister and grandma hot on her tail. They entered the toddler's room and found her, as a matter of fact, sitting in her crib, babbling to herself, smiling.

"Good morning Miss Zola!" Said Carolyn getting close to her.

"Nana... Em... Sah...?" She looked at them confused, but she kept on grinning.

"Hi Zozo" cooed Samantha, getting close to her.

"Hi!" she kept on grinning, she was a very happy baby, she didn't seem to mind that it was not her parents that had entered her room.

"How about we take you out of there little one?" Proposed Carolyn leaning down to gather the girl in her arms.

Zola held her pudgy arms up in order to be picked up and giggled happily as her grandma placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Can we help you change her nana?" asked Sam.

"Yeah nana... can we?" added Emma right away, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Of course, here place her on the changing table, will you?" she answered passing the toddler to Sam who gave her a kiss before setting her down.

"Watcha looking for, nana?" asked Emma following her.

"Something comfy to changer her in... get a diaper for her in that drawer Ems" she said pointing to the top drawer on the dresser under the changing table.

After they had changed Zola in a comfortable pink and purple track suit, they went back to the kitchen were they found Spencer and Evan, they were both drinking orange juice.

"Morning guys, slept well?"

"Yes nana... hi girls, hi Zola" said Spencer placing his glass on the counter.

"Shall we go wake up mom and dad?" asked Evan when he had finished his juice as well.

"What time is it?" Sam answered with another question.

"It's almost 8..."

"Let them sleep" answered Carolyn, settling Zola in her high chair "we'll have breakfast, just the six of us. The pancakes batter is only waiting for the blueberries or the chocolate chips and the French toast just needs to be cooked"

"All right nana, need any help?!"

* * *

Derek and Meredith were both woken up roughly at the same time by shrieks of joy coming from the living room area.

"Mmh... morning" mumbled Meredith stretching.

"Good morning" Derek beamed at her "slept well?"

"The best" she answered as her stomach grumbled.

"Somebody's hungry!" he grinned giving her a peck on the lips "let's get you something to eat, it's almost 10 o' clock" he added looking at the time.

"Oh my gosh... what about Zozo?"

"I'm sure she's fine. Didn't you hear her giggle just now?"

"Yeah, but still. We slept in and forgot her, I kinda feel like a bad mom..."

"But you are not of course. You are the best mommy a little girl could ask for... let's go say hello to our princess, come on!" he said getting up and passing the right hand through his tousled hair.

"Thanks, you know?"

"What for?"

"For always reassuring me... I blame all the hormones"

"It's fine Mere, I will always show up, remember? I promised I will. I'll always be here reassuring you, waking up next to you, kissing you, making love to you and just being your husband. There is nowhere else I'd rather be" he said kissing her on the forehead.

"Same goes for me" she whisper giving him a hug, opening the door right after.

What they found outside literally warmed both of them up. Zola was in the middle of a very heated Twister game, along with her cousins and Scott, while Carolyn and Liz were giving directions from the couch, holding the spinner and laughing out loud at the situation.

"Good morning guys, did you sleep well?" asked Liz, who had spotted them first.

"Yeah, the best thanks. And you?!" answered Derek for the both of them.

Meredith was kneeling next to an over giddy Zola "hi baby girl, did you sleep all right?" she asked as the baby wiggled since she was currently standing with a little foot on a green spot and the other on a yellow one.

"Hi mama... me play!" she beamed, clearly excited, pointing at the board where she was standing,

"I see that baby, are you having fun?"

"Huh, huh" she nodded grinning wide.

"Morning you guys, everything all right?" she asked looking at her nephews and brother in law.

She received a chorus consisting of various affirmative answers along with "we made breakfast" coming from Emma.

"Yes, we saved you some. It's in the microwave already" added Carolyn, as Derek leant down to place a kiss on the top of Zola's head.

"Great, I'm starving" confessed Meredith as her stomach rumbled loudly again, she giggled and shuffled to the kitchen, followed closely by Derek.

She sat at the counter while he proceeded to heat up a stack of chocolate chip pancakes and two pieces of French toast each.

"What flavor do you wish to try today, Madame?" he asked in a really professional tone, turning around a posting to the various kinds of tea they had on display on one of the kitchen shelves.

"What would be your suggestion, Sir?" she played along, grinning.

"Well, a personal favorite of mine is the winter tea..."

"And what would that be?"

"It's our finest black tea infused with cinnamon and orange"

"Sounds heavenly, I'll take that" she paused "thanks again for getting me all that tea supplies for Christmas" she smiled genuinely at him. It was the same smile that had made him fall head over heels in love with her. That smile and her tiny ineffectual fists. But the smile was something else, it was infectious, really. He felt himself getting happier than he already was just by looking at her smiling at him, her eyes were sporting a mischievous look and her cheeks were glowing a healthy pink.

"Does that mean you like the tea better than my other present?" he asked alluding to the platinum necklace with Zola's birthstone he had gotten her. She would have been able to add peanut's birthstone later on and many more if she wanted to.

"You wish!" she giggled loudly and he giggled along with her.

"There you go, Madame" he said reverently, after the water for her tea was ready.

She burst out laughing as she accepted the mug with the tea bag already soaking inside.

Two minutes later Meredith was devouring her fourth pancake "I really hope peanut likes them, cause I am absolutely addicted to them" she confessed in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I hope so too Mere" he whispered back "you'll soon enter the second trimester and the nausea should finally subdue" he tried to comfort her.

"I'm very much looking forward to that"

"Me too, I hate to see you going through that almost every morning..."

"Aww, that's sweet Derek. You really are my _knight in shining whatever_" she grinned once more.

"I aim to serve" he answered smiling humbly.

"Yeah, either that or the fact that you know I am in this situation because of your _stupid boy's penis_!" she smirked.

"I beg your pardon?!" he feigned offense.

She just stuck her tongue out and started to attack the French toast on her plate.

He pretended to be hurt by her actions and sniffed.

"You really are a crybaby, you know that?!"

"Am I?"

"Yup" she popped the p just like Zola always did "but you are my crybaby!" she added right after and he felt tears pricking in his eyes.

"You are also a sap" she added grinning.

"It's your own fault woman, you made me the happiest man alive"

"Did I?" she asked genuinely curious, the fork with another piece of French toast stopped mid-air.

"Of course you did. I always hoped to be able to find a woman that would have made me as happy as my parents were when I was growing up. You are it, Meredith. You are exactly that woman. The woman I want to have next to me for the rest of my life, the mother of my children, the love of my life" he let his voice trail off and saw that she had gotten misty eyed.

"I never thought I would have fallen in love. I never let myself even think about that possibility with the crappy childhood I had... but you waltzed into my life and made me see that true love really does exist you know?" her eyes shining with happy tears, the fork laying forgotten on the counter.

"Yeah" he answered softly.

"I guess that what I'm trying to say is thank you for not giving up like everybody else had" she concluded smiling ardently.

"You didn't give up on me either, even if you had all the reasons to" he answered simply, his voice stiff at the memories of those times after Addison had showed up, he had been a fool and she would have had any reason to get on with her life and forget about him.

"I couldn't have, I was already hopelessly in love with you and your _mcdreaminess_..."

"Is that even a word?" he challenged.

"I'm pretty sure McDreamy is not a word you find on the dictionary either" she retorted.

"Touché... I really am the happiest man in the world" he reinforced.

"And I'm the happiest woman" she added right away "who would have thought that the angry pink-haired teenager would have married the biggest sap in the world?"

He gave a hearty laugh and closed the distance separating them with a long, slow kiss "I love kissing you when you taste like maple syrup" he confessed when they were done.

"And here I was thinking you were a healthnut"

"What can I say? You brought me over to the dark side!"

They both grinned and finished breakfast, before Meredith joined the kids and Scott in the messiest game of Twister ever played.

"Thanks again for getting us a Twister sis" said Derek sitting down next to Liz and turning the arrow on the spinner.

"You bet" she winked at him "every household should possess one, it's a must!"

* * *

Later in the day the adults were sitting at the table, after they were done with lunch and the kids were in the playroom trying out the Christmas presents they had received. Cristina, Owen and April were all on call that day, while Alex was going to be on call for the night, Richard and Jackson were having lunch with Catherine Avery and Miranda, Ben and Tuck were spending the day at her parents' house. Carolyn and Derek had gone in the kitchen to start the coffee and Meredith was staring anxiously at the time.

"Is everything all right Mere?" Alex looked at her concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just... I've invited my sister for coffee"

"We know. Molly, right?" asked Callie curiously.

Meredith just nodded as she toyed with her brand new necklace.

"Are you nervous?" asked Arizona, even though it was obvious.

"Yeah a little... actually a lot" she confessed.

"Remember how nervous you were about Lexie as well?" Alex was trying to calm her down.

"Yeah, but she was so adamant to get to know me..."

"Probably being hardheaded is a characteristic shared by all Greys" Alex winked at her.

"Mh..." she was fidgeting, staring out of the window to see if a car was approaching "I hope they didn't get lost" she said to Derek when he came back and sat next to her.

"I'm sure they didn't Mere, he's a former marine" he reminded her. Meredith didn't know how he did it, but just his voice alone was able to calm her down, he had the same effect on Zola, whenever she was cranky Derek's voice could always soothe her. Meredith finally breathed deeply and she smiled nervously at Liz who grinned back encouragingly.

"What is your sister's name Meredith? I'm afraid I've forgotten it" Scott sounded apologetic as Liz playfully swatted his arm.

"Molly, her little girl's name is Laura and her husband is Eric" Meredith answered quickly.

"How old is Laura?" asked Carolyn as she sat back at the table.

"She should be six-ish"

Everybody smiled at the answer Meredith gave. The moment was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. Meredith jumped up to go open it and Derek followed her closely. Before opening the door she took a long calming breath, then she smiled at Derek, who placed a hand on the small of her back.

"Hi guys, you made it!" she exclaimed when the Thompsons came into view.

"Hi auntie Meredith" Laura waved at them.

"Hi Laura, did you have a nice Christmas?" she kneeled down to smile at the girl.

"Yeah, I got lots of presents" she answered smiling toothlessly, then she handed her a box "we have muffins"

"The ones you told me about? Great, I can't wait to try them!"

"We've made the banana nut kind, they are Laura's favorite, and we made red velvet and vanilla cupcakes as well" explained Molly.

"Sounds awesome" Meredith smiled.

"Come on in guys" Derek said moving out of the doorway.

"Thanks" Eric answered, hoping much like Derek that the ice had been broken between the two sisters.

Meredith took their coats and she hanged them in the foyer, while Derek guided the three guests towards the table.

"Everybody, these are Laura, Molly and Eric" he introduced them.

A chorus of hellos erupted from the table, as Laura tried to hide behind her father's legs.

"I'll go call the kids" proposed Callie getting up.

Meredith joined them in the living room and smiled at Molly "take a seat guys" she encouraged, pointing to the two empty chairs next to hers.

Molly and Eric both sat down and Laura climbed on her father's lap.

"It's very nice to finally meet you" said Carolyn "I'm Derek's mom" she added.

"Nice to meet you" Molly answered quietly.

"What's your name?" Carolyn was looking at Laura now.

"Laura" she mumbled, her face hidden in her father's sweater.

"She's very shy at first" he tried to explain.

"Most of them are" Liz reassured them.

Before they could answer Callie came back followed by six excited, chatty kids.

"You remember Zola, Laur?!" Molly pointed to the little girl who had launched herself in her father's arms.

Laura nodded timidly.

"Hi, I'm Emma and you are?" Emma had dragged her sister along to come and meet the newcomers.

"Say your name baby" Eric coaxed her and his daughter finally disentangled herself from him and looked at the two older girls "I'm Laura" she finally said and then she added "I brought muffins, I made them with my mommy for aunt Meredith"

"Cool!" Sam grinned "I'm Samantha by the way"

"I'm Spencer and auntie Meredith is our aunt as well" added Spencer coming over and smiling.

"Do you remember Laura Zozo?" asked Derek as he brought the little girl to greet her cousin.

"Laur...?" Zola was confused, but her smile was as big as usual.

"Hi Zola, I 'member you from auntie Lexie's 'neral"

"Anty Lex!" Zola missed her auntie, she didn't fully understand what had happened to her.

"That's right girls" Derek smiled sadly and he quickly changed the subject "who wants dessert?" seven hands shot up in the air and the neurosurgeon bit back a laugh "Go sit at your table then and we'll bring you something" he reassured them. Laura jumped off from her father's lap, Emma grabbed her hand and guided her to the smaller round table the kids had used on Christmas as well. After that talk Laura found herself at ease with Zola, her other cousins and Sofia. They ate cupcakes, muffins and apple pie and it was like Laura had always been part of the group. Molly looked at her and smiled, then she turned to Meredith at a loss of words.

"How's the pregnancy going?" asked the older Grey sister.

"Everything is fine" Molly smiled genuinely.

"How far along are you?" asked Callie.

"28 weeks, but with twins"

"Wow! Congratulations guys" Arizona grinned along with her wife.

"Thanks" Molly smiled and swallowed, trying to prepare herself for the question she was about to ask "so… how was your Christmas Meredith?"

"It was pretty great, best one in a very long time" she tried to smile and then she added "except for Lexie of course... how is Thatcher doing?"

"He's not drinking thankfully, he's holding up somehow. Happy that we decided to come back here, our plan was to stay at the house until we had found a place, but… he actually told us to take the house if we want to, he's looking for a smaller place..." she explained truthfully.

"Sounds like a good plan, you definitely will need the space" the conversation started out a bit awkwardly, but it was going fine. Everybody else was concentrating on different topics allowing the two women to try and catch up with their lives. Next to her Derek was talking animatedly about basketball with Eric, Alex and Scott, in the meantime he was caressing soothingly the small of her back, reassuring her hat he was still by her side, even if he was not intruding. The casual conversation all around the adults table was interrupted by Evan "since it's not raining today and it hasn't rained since last night, can we go play some ball?" he pleaded. The kids were dressed a lot more casually than the day before and the adults understood their need to go out so they gave in. All kids went to put on sneakers, Laura was already wearing them, and all men agreed to take them out to play, Derek would have stayed with the younger kids if they didn't fell like playing. That left the women the chance to talk undisturbed for a while. When two hours later, tired and most of them filthy, wearing a happy grin the men and kids were back, Meredith and Molly had really bonded and they were organizing for Molly and her family to come over for New Year's Eve as well. Scott sent all his kids to get cleaned up, since they were all muddy, Callie offered to go give a bath to both Zola and Sophia and Derek was explaining to Eric where he could take Laura to get a bit cleaned up as well.

"It won't be anything fancy, don't worry" Meredith was reassuring her "and the kids will probably have a lot of fun all together"

"Sounds pretty good to me, what do you say Eric? New Year's Eve here at the Shepherd household" she turned towards her husband who was going upstairs, Laura perched on his shoulders.

"Great! Do we have to bring anything?" Eric felt really at ease with his newfound brother in law and he was happy that Laura had at least a cousin she could bond with.

"We'll discuss the menu tomorrow and let you know" answered Carolyn "although we don't want to tire you too much" she added looking at Molly.

"I'm fine really, it's just that these two are probably going to be soccer players, they enjoy the kicking very much… Laura was a lot calmer"

"Would you like some more tea and coffee?" asked Meredith getting up, seeing that all the women had finished theirs and the men probably would have wanted some.

Everybody nodded affirmatively and she went to the kitchen, followed by Derek and Alex. She went to retrieve some teabags, while Alex put the powder and water in the coffee maker and Derek took out some clean mugs for himself and the other men.

"How was it?" he finally asked.

"Pretty good… she reminds me of Lexie, you know?"

"Yeah? That's good, right?" he arched an eyebrow, leaning on the counter.

"It's really good" she reassured him "thanks for being by my side"

"Always" he smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Her husband is a pretty decent guy too" Alex piped in, joining them as Derek nodded.

"That's good" she looked at the both of them "I sort of really want her to be happy, you know?"

Both of them smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for having me over today as well, by the way" said Alex after a small pause.

"Don't even mention it. You are family" Meredith replied quickly, giving him a hug. Derek looked at the two of them and smiled, he absolutely loved their crazy extended family, even if it included Cristina and, at times, he was still unsure if she liked him or not. He wouldn't change their family with any other in the world; after all they did say that _it takes a village to raise a child_… right?!

**AN: so this was another long-ish chapter for you, I really hope you enjoyed it and, since I'm stuck at work all next week, but lots of people are on vacation already, I'll probably be able to update pretty soon. I hope you enjoyed all the MerDer interaction in the chapter, it needed to be done. Meredith is still a bit unsure of her happiness, we all know why and Derek is her knight in shining whatever and he needs to remind her how happy she's making him. Please press the pretty button and leave me a review, they make my day! **


	11. Shiny happy people

**AN: As per usual I'll start by thanking all of you who reviewed or just added the story to the favorites, all this literally makes me go on; I could never continue the story if it wasn't for your support. Also, I might be able to reach 100 reviews soon enough and I never even though I could reach that number, so… I guess that what I'm trying to say is thank you really. Enjoy chapter 11 folks!**

December 27th turned out to be a pretty uneventful day in the Shepherd household.

Meredith and Derek were up at the crack of dawn, right after she had to bolt to the bathroom to empty her stomach of all contents. He stood by her, stroking her back lovingly and trying to be supportive, hating the fact that he couldn't be of more help for her.

"I wish I could do more than this" he voiced his helplessness.

"Stroking my back is a big help" she reassured him, trying to smile through the waves of nausea.

"I'll go get you a glass ginger ale and some saltine crackers" he said getting up, leaving her crouched next to the toilet bowl.

In the kitchen he found his mother enjoying her morning coffee.

"Hello son, what woke you up so early?"

"Meredith is having a bad case of morning sickness" he sighed "I'm looking for ginger ale and saltines"

"Those were the only things that helped during my morning sickness with you guys as well" she said quietly "tell her that I hope she feels better and I'll make her some plain rice for lunch if her stomach is still upset"

"Thanks mom" he answered after he had retrieved the items he was looking for, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek, before disappearing in his bedroom once more.

All kids enjoyed fully the quiet after the hectic Christmas and Boxing Day that had just passed. They spent the morning in the playroom and in the basement using their brand new games and catching up with some homework, since it mostly consisted in reading.

They shared a light lunch, consisting of brown rice with vegetables and chicken, Meredith ate her brown rice plain, just with some olive oil and she drank more ginger ale. After lunch the kids went to watch a movie, while Zola took a nap and Spencer read some more nestled comfortably in his mother's embrace on the couch as she read a book as well. After Zola was up, Derek and Scott took the kids out to do some more exploring, since they had been inside all morning while it had rained. They ended up going all the way up the hill behind Derek and Meredith's land; enjoying a breathtaking view of the Seattle bay area spread in front of them, a shy sun making the picture even more perfect. Once they were back from their hike it was still light enough to play football together, with Meredith, Liz and Carolyn watching them and cheering. They had mac 'n cheese for dinner, made following the Shepherd recipe. Meredith's nausea had finally disappeared, letting her enjoy the delicious pasta her mother in law had made and she made Carolyn promise to teach her the secret behind the superb dish. After dinner Scott had washed the dishes and Meredith had cleaned up, while Derek bathed Zola and Lizzie made sure that all her kids were showering as well. Around 8:30 they were all back in the living room, the kids had picked the movie to watch, their choice falling on "Finding Nemo". The five of them were all sprawled on the floor enjoying homemade pop-corn and reciting almost every line along with Dory the fish.

* * *

Unexpectedly December 28th turned out to be a sunny day just like Boxing Day. Derek and Scott decided to take advantage of the nice weather and opted to take the kids out for the day, planning a trip to both the Pacific Science Center and the Seattle Aquarium hoping the day could be both entertaining and educational as well.

Carolyn and Scott had bought the City Pass when they went to visit the Space Needle, so they could still use it to explore more of Seattle's attractions and Carolyn gladly gave her pass to Derek, since her name was not stamped on the ticket and she was planning to enjoy the day at home with Liz and Meredith, a much needed day of calm before the storm of yet another party. She was glad though, Derek and Meredith deserved all the possible happiness after all they had to endure during the year that was coming to an end. And this included the new baby, the awesome house and the family to spend the holidays with, the whole nine yards.

"Are you sure you'll be all right without us?" Meredith giggled as they were getting ready to leave.

"Positive, my mom has to teach you her _sacred mac 'n cheese recipe_, right?" she nodded and he went on "Better do that without kids running around" he winked at her, kissing her fully on the mouth.

"Yeah…we don't want them intoxicated if I set the kitchen on fire" she smirked.

"Don't be silly, you haven't damaged any food in a very long time" he said in a loving tone.

"You are so smitten bro" Liz grinned at him "we'll take care of your precious wife, once you'll be home tonight she'll know all the secret Shepherd recipes… and maybe some other Shepherd secrets as well" she winked at him, giving a one-armed hug to Meredith, who reciprocated the gesture.

"Are you planning on talking about my childhood Elizabeth Anne?" he asked using her full name.

"Mmh… maybe I am, do you have a problem with that?"

"Of course I do, you girls made sure to make growing up as the only boy hellish" he pointed out the obvious.

"Hey! I always had a soft spot for you and your quirks… and Amy adored you, she still does!"

"Don't believe a word she says Mere" he begged giving his wife one more kiss as she giggled happily.

"I won't" she whispered wriggling her eyebrows "but I do want to know all the secrets regarding your childhood" she added smirking.

"Why, oh why did I have to be the only boy?" he muttered, a frown gracing his feature.

"Don't be a baby!" Meredith kissed him soundly and then she hugged Zola and gave her a kiss on the cheek "be good for daddy baby girl" she whispered as she received a sloppy kiss and a hug.

Carolyn chuckled as she stood there, looking at the two of them bicker lightly and smiling goofily at each other, she had been completely right after she had met Meredith, even if it had been brief. She balanced him out and the two of them fit together just right, it had never been like that with him and Addison. She was definitely _the one_ for him.

After the two men had left with the kids Meredith, Liz and Carolyn sat down at the counter to enjoyed one more mug of tea for Meredith and coffee for the other two women.

"Do you miss it? I missed coffee a lot when I was pregnant?" Liz looked curiously at her sister in law.

"Some days I do and some others, like yesterday, I don't since a single whiff of coffee is enough to make nauseous"

"It should get better pretty soon" Carolyn tried to reassure her "when I was pregnant with Amy the nausea was horrible and I couldn't wait for the second trimester to finally arrive..."

"Is that why Amy was the last?" Liz smirked at her mom.

"No Miss Smarty-pants! Your father and I just thought that five kids were more than enough, don't you agree?"

"I would have stopped at three if I could have... although I wouldn't trade my babies for anything else in the world"

Meredith giggle softly as she enjoyed the sweet-smelling vapor raising from the warm liquid she was nursing in the cup "does Derek remind you of his father?" she finally asked, looking at the two of them.

"Mmmh... definitely" Carolyn was the first to answer.

"Yeah, he does" added Liz "especially in the little things, you know?"

"Like what? Sorry if I'm bring nosy, but..." she trailed off and Carolyn reassured her "you're not being nosy, it is your right to know these kinds of stuff"

"He reminds me of dad in the everyday stuff..." Liz started to explain "like when he plays with Zola and he twirls her around, that's one of my first memories with my dad, he would twirl Amy and me around until we were dizzy, literally and he never stopped until we asked him to, no matter how tired he was"

"And what about the countless tea parties you girls made him have? You forced your poor brother to those parties as well" Carolyn added, a smile on her face.

"And I remember when he took Kathleen and Nancy to the Father-Daughter dance in Middle School. Amy and I weren't so lucky…" a melancholy look appeared on Liz's face.

"Sounds like an amazing dad" Meredith whispered slowly, trying to picture Christopher Shepherd playing with his kids and just _being a dad_, but failing miserably since she had no such memories except for very faint ones from when she was around 5 years old.

"He really was" Carolyn's tone was somber, but filled with love "I still miss him dearly, you know? He would have been so proud of all of you kids" she took another sip from her mug and smiled tiredly.

"I'm sure of that Ma..."

"Do you happen to have any pictures of Derek and his sisters as kids?" Meredith was genuinely curious.

"Actually I do! Derek told me you were thinking about hanging up some pictures on the stairway and around the house, so he asked me to bring some of his childhood ones. I picked all my favorite ones. Let me go fetch them" she got up and went upstairs.

"Do not make any sarcastic comments about my hairstyle Meredith, remember the thing I said about us being sister" Liz smiled broadly.

"Don't worry, all my sarcasm will definitely be saved for that big-headed brother of yours… and besides I had pink hair for a whole semester in high school" Meredith reassured the brunette grinning.

"I knew I could convince you to gang up on him!"

Carolyn was back after a couple of minutes, two huge photo albums in her hands. Meredith reached eagerly for the one Carolyn was handing her and opened the first page, she had to stifle a laugh. In the middle of the white page was a picture of a baby boy enveloped in a light blue blanket with lots of dark hair, styled in a Mohawk "that was from the day he was born" Carolyn's tone was soft "Christopher was so happy to have a boy. Don't get me wrong, he loved his girls, but he was eager to have a little boy to take fishing and so on… he started to make all kinds of plan right away…"

"He had lots of hair! I was practically bold…" Meredith smiled softly as she turned the pages and she stopped when she stumbled upon a picture of Kathleen and Nancy holding baby Derek, the two girls were sporting identical grins. She turned the pages and saw Derek grow up. He got a baby sister, Liz, and another one, Amelia. He started kindergarten, where he met Mark and befriended him. He took piano lessons, he played in the little league baseball and he went fishing with his dad. He started elementary school, he dressed up for Halloween, he celebrated Thanksgiving and he got presents for Christmas. Life went on and he graduated from elementary school and started middle school. He lost his dad and, in the pictures, he didn't sport his happy grin for a while, but it slowly reappeared by the time he went to his first formal dance. He was part of the science club in high school, but he was still friend with Mark, a total jock. By Junior year he managed to get in the basketball team and lose some of his dorkiness, even if the afro didn't help much. He graduated with honors and was elected Valedictorian for his class, there were pictures with his whole family at his high school and college graduation from Bowdoin College, by that time his sisters had started their families as well. Meredith felt tears prickling in her eyes and she wasn't able to stop them from falling, she sniffed loudly as the put the second album on the counter.

"Oh honey, what's wrong?" Carolyn was at her side immediately.

"Nothing" she sniffed "I'm just so glad that my babies will have the kind of family you were for Derek as he grew up…"

"Of course they will. When you married my dorky brother you took the whole package, sisters included!" Liz winked at her and Meredith's tears finally subdued "Stupid hormones" she managed to stammer as she gave the two women a tentative smile.

"Did you see any pictures that you liked in particular?"

"Yeah, lots of them… we'll have to go to the store and ask for quite some reprints tomorrow" Meredith's voice was steady again as she answered her mother in law.

* * *

"When were you planning on telling me that your sister had triplets?" the accusation came as soon as the kids and their dads had reentered the house, late in the afternoon.

He stopped, dead in his tracks, a deer-in-the-headlights look appearing on his face and he swallowed nervously.

The kids scrambled towards the kitchen to grab a drink and say hi to their mothers and their nana. Zola ran happily in Meredith's arms squealing in delight when her mama hugged her tightly and gave her a big kiss on the cheeks, Meredith decided to ignore her husband for a while and just concentrate on her little girl instead.

"Did you have fun little one?" asked Meredith inhaling her powdery baby scent.

The toddler nodded eagerly " 't was awsom!" she giggled, showing her mommy the stuffed dolphin Derek had gotten her at the aquarium.

"Wow, a dolphin! Did you see one today pumpkin?"

Zola nodded solemnly "huh, huh... we saw them dolphs an' whals an' jellys mama"

"You saw the jellyfishes?"

"Yup, with Em and Sah" she pointed to her cousins who grinned at the both of them.

"Did you like them?"

"There slimy" she giggled.

"They are, huh? What else did you see?"

"We saw them otrs an' seas"

"Otters and seals?"

"Them wer eatin' mama"

"It was so cool aunt Meredith, I loved the otters" Samantha piped in.

"I bet it was!"

"Uncle Derek asked about Family Plus Membership" added Evan munching on a muffin.

"He did?" Meredith gave a look to his husband, who smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, he says he will get that for you guys in the new year" Spencer looked ecstatic.

"Does that mean that you guys want to go there again when you'll come visit next summer" Meredith winked.

"It would be so cool!" Evan and Spencer both said.

"What did you like better Zozo... the dolphins?"

The girl nodded taking a sip from the apple juice Carolyn had handed her "them pwety" she gushed, her smile stretching and her eyes shining. When she was done drinking she snuggled into her Maya's embrace, enjoying the comforting lavender smell Meredith always had.

"How about the Pacific Science Center?" asked Carolyn.

"It was great! Spencer, dad and I went to the Dinosaurs exhibit…" Evan started to explain eagerly.

"Wow, you guys love dinosaurs" Liz pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, it was so cool. We learned lots of stuff too" added Spencer, a big smile on his face.

"And what did you girls do?" Carolyn turned to her granddaughters.

"We went in the tropical butterfly house with uncle Derek" Emma answered right away.

"Burflys pwety" Zola piped in grinning, still enveloped in her mother's arms.

"I love butterflies!" exclaimed Meredith smiling at her nieces "Was uncle Derek a good guide for you girl?" Meredith asked tickling Zola and making the toddler laugh.

"Yeah he was, he knows lots of things about butterflies" Sam grinned looking at him.

"That's because uncle Derek has always been a nerd" Liz whispered loud enough for everybody to hear, all kids laughed and Derek just scowled at his sister.

"Do you want to come read a story with us Zozo?" asked Emma when she had finished her juice.

Zola nodded eagerly "yup!"

Meredith let her down and the five kids ran towards the playroom, ready to continue having fun with one another.

Derek, who had stayed frozen to the spot, took a few tentative steps toward his wife an unsure smile on his face.

"Do I get a kiss like Zola?" he asked once he was standing next to her.

"I'm still thinking about that" she muttered.

He sighed as he sat down next to her, trying to stop a grin from forming on his face "you can't seriously be mad at me because Nancy had triplets" he finally said "it's not like I had anything to do with that!"

"Well, but still... you should have told me. I will not push three babies out of me Derek Christopher Shepherd!"

"Wow man, full name... the lady is pissed!" Scott grinned at his brother in law as Liz hit him lightly on the arm and Carolyn chuckled.

"We went to the ultrasound together Mere, there was just one heartbeat... it's just peanut in there" he reassured her drawing circles on the small of her back.

She crashed into him, hugging him tightly "I just don't think I'd be able to have more than one at a time" she sniffled.

"Let's not worry about the possibility, shall we?" he comforted her, kissing her sweetly on the lips and grinning.

"Okay" she agreed kissing him back and then she smirked "better worry about your amazing childhood pictures!"

"Ma! Why did you have to show her?" he complained right away.

"You asked me to bring some to pick the best ones for the house, son..." she reminded him.

"I picked my favorites" whispered Meredith softly, handing him a bunch of pictures.

The one on top was enough to make his eyes turn misty. It was a picture from one of the _infamous all men weekends_, he was probably 8 and he was standing next to his dad, a trout in his hands, grinning at the camera, his eyes sparkling and his hair messy. An 8 years old Mark was standing on his other side, his grin just as big, his eyes wearing a mischievous look.

"I remember this weekend! We caught 10 trouts and had a cookout on Sunday night instead of going to the game..."

"I remember" said Carolyn looking at the photo fondly.

"Yeah, me too..." added Liz "it was not your birthday though, it was summer..."

"It was the weekend of Mark's birthday" whispered Derek "after we became best friends dad decided he should have a birthday weekend too"

"Wow, that was so sweet of him" Meredith had tears in her eyes as well.

"That was dad, he loved Mark as a second son, just like Ma..."

"I really wish I could have met him" said Scott quietly and Meredith had to agree "yeah, me too…"

* * *

At the end of the day, when the house was quiet and everybody had gone to sleep, Meredith and Derek were under the covers, listening to the rain pounding on the roof. The room was dark and Derek could hear the faint sound of her heartbeat, lulling him to sleep.

"Did you like the pictures I picked out?" her whisper startled him.

"Yeah, you picked some great ones…"

"You were such a cute baby Derek" she gushed.

"I bet you were even cuter… do you have some baby pictures as well?"

"Some, not a lot like yours, but yes. Thatcher took plenty of pictures when he was around and my mother made sure a photographer was present at all the main events in my life" she shrugged.

"I want to hung yours too" he replied simply.

"I'm glad our kids will have the childhood you had" she added after a comfortable silence had filled the room for a while.

"And I'm glad they'll have you as their mother" he spoke from the heart and she felt her eyes getting misty.

"You're a pretty great dad too, just like yours was" she answered.

"He really was…" he trailed off and then he switched topic "did you guys decide on a menu for New Year's Eve?"

"Yeah, we're going with fish… you okay with that?"

"Awesome, Scott and I can go fishing with the kids tomorrow when you girls are shopping for groceries then"

"You think you can catch enough trouts to feed us all?" she challenged, he could hear the smile in her tone, along with the faint mockery.

"Maybe… I just want the kids to have a good time"

"I'm sure they will" she reassured him leaning into his embrace "at what time is your sister coming on the 31st?"

"The plane lands at 11:30 in the morning, I'll go pick her up with Scott if that's okay with you"

"Awesome, we'll have to prepare a room for them. They're staying until the 4th, right?"

"That's what she said…" he answered bringing her petite body closer to his lean one "you are okay with Amy and James staying here as well, right? It's not too much?"

"Of course I am Derek, they're your family which makes them my family as well" her tone was resolute, a smile on her face "I'm hoping for many more chaotic Christmases to come…" she grinned at him.

He grinned back in the dark "I really don't know what I have done to deserve you…"

"I could ask myself the same question" she retorted, placing a soft kiss on his pulse point, eliciting a low growl. He lowered his head, capturing her lips in his own, silencing a moan escaping from her mouth. She descended from his lips to his neck, kissing him slowly, his good hand tangled in her hair.

"I hope you're not tired" he whispered huskily in her ear "because I plan to ravish you all night long"

"I would like that very much Doctor Shepherd" she panted in response, sneaking her hand under his pajama top, caressing the firm skin around his navel.

* * *

The morning of the last day of the year Derek found himself waiting for his little sister and her boyfriend, along with Scott. He hadn't seen Amy in a while and he was very much looking forward to that and to meet this James she seemed so in love with.

His musings were interrupted by loud footsteps approaching, his sister and a tall dark haired man had joined him and Scott.

"Hi bro, hi Scott… this is James" Amy hugged both men enthusiastically and then pushed her boyfriend forward.

They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries as they walked towards Derek's Cayenne. Scott jumped behind the wheel and the foursome departed towards the ferry for Bainbridge island.

"Ready for a Shepherd's New Year's Eve James?" asked Scott looking at the guy in the rearview mirror.

"I guess I am" he answered smiling, a bit unsure.

"Took me almost two years to consider myself totally ready!" Scott winked at him as he exited the parking lot.

Amelia put a reassuring hand on her boyfriend's arm and smile encouragingly "it will be amazing, I promise"

**This chapter turned out a bit different than I had planned. NYE celebration should have been here, but photos were discovered, trips were made and triplets appeared, sort of. I'm not totally thrilled with the ending scene, but it's just a filler, the party will be in full swing in the next chapter. I hope to be able to update by the end of the week. Press the pretty button and drop me a line and share your thoughts about the chapter, thank you!**


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